Never Turn Your Back
by TayMor
Summary: "Here, you play by our rules." Sakura is caught in the midst of two criminal organizations and three opposing sides. One giant mystery. Puzzles that don't quite mesh. Truth mixes with lies, each wearing a mask. Hearts are lost, causing lines to blur. Amongst it all, only one lesson remains clear: Whether they appear to be friend or foe, Never Turn Your Back. AU, ItaSaku.
1. Bodies in the Bin

**Never Turn Your Back**

_-A TayMor and Addicted-to-GazettE collaboration.._.

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**So MissMeep challenged me to write a Romance/Crime AU ItaSaku, and this is what I came up with after asking Addicted-to-GazettE for her help. For all your reading enjoyment! We know this chapter is a teensy bit slow, but that was a necessary evil. It will pick up speed, we promise!**

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**Chapter 1: Bodies in the Bin**

**Konohagakure no Sato  
4:35 am**

The hum of a dump truck was the only thing that broke the silence of the warehouse district in south Konohagakure. The alleys between the warehouses were lined off with heaping bins of trash ready for recycling. A few stray dogs skulked in between the cans, searching in vain for something to eat.

Two men, in their early forties perhaps, walked together in companionable silence, slowly wheeling their large bins of industrial refuse towards the dump truck that was waiting for the load. Its arm and clamp lifted the heavy bins to deposit their contents inside the dump-truck's trash carrier. Having worked together for over ten years, neither man felt the need to speak, it being far too early in the morning for coherent conversation. They both moved with methodical, almost robotic motions; they didn't have to think to do their chore. It was one they were used to. An old ritual that they completed together once every month.

Their safety boots scuffed over the slightly cracked pavement with their motions as they walked, the usually low sounds exceptionally loud in the otherwise silent area.

Dropping the bins off with a nod to the driver, who tipped his cap back at them sleepily, they left the bins for the machine to take care of, and the two began to walk back for the next load. The shorter of the two men grimaced as he got closer to the next bin.

"Oi, Anari," he said, blinking blearily at the load. "That smell funny to you?" he asked, his voice low and lazy.

"It's trash, Koru," the taller of the two men said, dismissing his friend's question. "Let's just get this over with."

"No... it smells like something rotten..." Koru defended, his nose wrinkling as they got even closer to their destination. He put his gloved hands to his face as he approached the line of bins that were placed side by side against a warehouse and coughed. Anari had no choice but to do the same, groaning in disgust at the offensive smell.

"Okay... okay that's really bad," he agreed. "It's probably some dead stray someone scraped up for us to dispose of," Anari groused, "We're running a recycle business here, not a body disposal service." He followed closely behind Koru, shivering a little at the cold early morning air, and slammed into the shorter man who'd stopped abruptly.

"Oi... Anari... d-does that look like an animal to you?" Koru asked, his voice tentative.

"Huh?" Anari started, moving around his trash-collecting partner to look inside the garbage bin. What he saw made him forget what he'd been about to say. Koru's face went deathly pale before his skin started to take on a sickly green hue.

"Oh god, I think I'm gonna lose my breakf-" The rest of his sentence was choked off as he gagged when an ill timed breeze drifting through the alleys, wafted the smell from the bins directly in their faces.

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**3 Hours Later...**

Haruno Sakura was having a terrible morning.

She'd woken up to find her water heater was broken, again, might she add, so she'd been subjected to freezing jets of aquatic torture rather than the relaxing warmth every woman should have in the sanctity of her own tiled oasis... and did she mention that this was at six in the morning? An entirely ridiculous hour to have to roll from one's bed, in Sakura's estimation, even if it was to get to a crime scene. Even if a nicely toasted shower came before said crime scene. Had she already mentioned the water had been arctic and had given her frostbite where no woman needs frostbite?

And don't get her started on the coffee shop fiasco her 'bright ray of morning sunshine' partner had caused. The same coffee shop fiasco that had resulted in her _not_ getting her coffee. Needless to say, Naruto had ended up wearing the cardboard cup holder as a necklace. He had better steer clear of her temper for the rest of the day or she would have no issue adding him to the body count.

Sakura raked her hand through her bright pink hair as she stepped out of her car, slid her aviators over her eyes, and accepted a latte from an on-scene lackey. She loved on-scene lackeys. She decided this particular lackey deserved a raise and possibly a hug. Sadly for him, that wasn't her call - at least on the raise part.

"What do we have?" she asked as the under-enthused Hyuuga Neji walked up alongside her as she made her way to the cordoned-off crime scene. Naruto trailed after them like a dejected puppy, shoulder slumped and his neck still red from his earlier run-in with cardboard. He ran a hand through his gelled blonde hair and tugged on his dark suit jacket.

"Trash collectors found several bodies in the bins over there this morning," Neji said, his voice deep and strangely soothing. He tied his long hair behind him as he walked, the coffee brown strands falling back onto the shoulders of his suit with an ease Sakura envied. Her hair was slightly wavy by nature so it never had that kind of straight and silky gloss. She'd also cut the pink strands into a messy bob ending a little below her chin.

"Several?" Sakura asked, sliding Neji a green eyed glance as she swallowed a sip of her latte.

"Several," Neji clarified simply, his pale grey eyes flashing to her for a short moment. "Several meaning, say... four so far. Inuzuka and the cadaver dogs are still finding bodies," he continued.

Naruto cut in real quick, his voice carrying a certain whiney quality that grated on both his fellow agents' nerves, "Hey, Can I get a latte? Why does only Saku-" He quickly shut his trap when Sakura sent him a steely-eyed glare promising death. Neji cleared his throat pointedly before he continued speaking to Sakura as if the blonde hadn't opened his mouth.

"We spoke to the guys that found the bodies and we've already run them through the system. Apart from Hinamora Anari that had a shoplifting charge, nothing popped," the Hyuuga said, lifting the yellow tape and allowing Sakura to go under. He followed behind her, dropping the tape between himself and Naruto. The blonde scowled before following close after, muttering and grunting to himself about vindictive women and to 'never trust a man who took such care with personal appearance'. Sakura grinned despite his bad mood, sadistically enjoying her partner's complaints. Served him right, the brat. She took another sip of her latte... it was really good. She made a mental note to ask the lackey what flavor it was.

When they got to the alleyway, what awaited the three agents was something Sakura was long used to seeing. Same main content, just a new location and different faces. The photographers had already captured the bodies in their undisturbed states, so the coroners had laid the four discovered corpses out on white sheets on the ground. They were currently in the process of examining each body closely, testing liver temperature et cetera. The victims consisted of three males and one female, and going by appearance, all closely ranged in age from somewhere between late twenties to early thirties. They were all dressed in dark clothing; two in blue, two in black. One of the coroners kneeling next to the female corpse waved to the trio as if to gain their attention.

Placing a hand on Sakura's shoulder Neji said, "I'll go see what they need. You go ahead and get started over there." Nodding her assent to this plan Sakura smiled.

"Good luck with the Jane and John Does." Nodding to the pair Neji quietly excused himself, while Naruto and Sakura kept walking farther into the crime scene.

The alley wasn't too narrow, but the smell of four dead and decomposing bodies was rather strong.

Naruto pinched his nose with little preamble and announced bluntly, "Sweet Christ this place reeks." Sakura rolled her eyes at the obvious statement.

"Thank you Agent Obvious," she quipped back. Naruto, though, was far from done.

"Sa-ku-ra-chaaan," he bemoaned their fate woefully. "Why does it always have to reek? It smells like horse shit mixed with Jiraiya-jiji's sad attempts at beef stew." Sakura wrinkled her nose at the rather unappetizing mental image of horse dung and her partner's old mentor's cooking before pulling the lid off her latte to replace the stink with coffee scented steam. Was that a vanilla undercurrent she detected? She hummed thoughtfully and drained the last few drops in her cup.

Someone had gone through and lain small plastic numbered markers beside items of evidence, and Sakura silently applauded their quick work. She had to admit she loved working with Neji and his crew. They were always so scarily efficient, making her job a very nice and easy one to accomplish. So far, amongst the points of interest, Sakura could see one wallet, a cellular phone, a cigarette butt, and a Styrofoam coffee cup, each labelled neatly with their own numbered marker. Sakura looked up at the sound of a throaty bark from one of the cadaver dogs.

"Haruno-san," a blonde male in his twenties called, waving Sakura over. "They've found two more!" Sakura handed her now empty latte cup to the conveniently passing lackey and stalked off in the direction of the newly found corpse. There she found a rather familiar rangy officer with rugged good looks paired with messy just-rolled-out-of-bed-and-rockin'-it brown hair. His face lit up when he spotted the approaching pair.

"Sakura-chan," the Inuzuka dog trainer said, flashing a wolfy grin at her and giving her a not-so-discreet once over. He ignored Naruto completely. "You look great, as always," he continued, a saucy wink accompanying his compliment. His gaze dropped to her chest for a long second. Naruto bristled protectively as that second-long glance lasted a second too long in his book, meaning, of course, it shouldn't have strayed there to begin with.

"Get your eyes off my chest, Kiba-san," Sakura said sharply, but without too much bite. She even found a smile pulling unconsciously at her unpainted lips. Kiba was like her daily confidence booster, and no amount of chiding would lessen his good natured flirting... so why stop him? She wouldn't lie and say the more feminine part of her didn't enjoy the attentions, as long as he didn't go looking for more.

"I would stay longer, but Akamaru is pulling at his leash," Kiba continued. His voice dropped as he leaned closer to her while passing. "But I do have time to say that those jeans you have on make your butt look especially nice today." Sakura grinned and rolled her eyes, their emerald hues not hiding her amusement nor her enjoyment of what was becoming an age old game between the two of them.

"Get out of here, dog breath," she said playfully, swatting the back of his head and kneeling to examine the body on the ground. Kiba laughed and ran off with Akamaru, the large white dog pulling against his leash. Naruto watched the pair go; only relaxing his defensive stance when they disappeared from his over-protective sights. He pulled on a pair of white gloves, snapping the latex against his wrists while giving Kiba a parting glare.

"Man, this is one _dead_ son of a bitch," Naruto stated unnecessarily, eyeing the newly found corpse.

"He's just as dead as the other ones, Naruto," Sakura mumbled, sliding a hand over her nose and mouth as she looked the dead man over. She waved over a photographer. "Ichirou! Over here!"

"Yeah...But do you see the size of the bullet holes in him? He's like a slice of Swiss cheese."

Sakura scowled darkly as they waited for the photographer to arrive, "What is it with you and the food comparisons today?"

"What can I say?" Naruto groused, watching the photographer take two more photographs of the corpses lined out on the pavement before turning to run towards them. "I didn't get my daily bagel. I'm hungry." A rather loud growl from his stomach backed up his statement.

The man slumped behind one of the dumpsters was young, probably about twenty-three years at the most, with cropped blonde hair and skin so pale it was obvious that even while alive he would be paler than most. He was dressed similar to the other corpses, with dark clothing and a pair of cracked aviators that were still hooked onto the neck of his shirt.

"That's what you get for living off cup ramen every night, ya lazy bum," Sakura declared, stepping out of the way so the photographer could get a good shot of the dead man.

Ichirou ran up beside Sakura, his red hair neat despite his hurried movements. He knelt and took several quick photographs of the man before giving Sakura curt nod and running off again. Slipping as easily into business mode as she had with the playful banter before with Kiba, Sakura slipped on a pair of latex gloves and gingerly unhooked the glasses from his shirt. They could possibly get some fingerprints off that.

Naruto quickly pulled a small evidence baggie from his jacket pocket in order to accept the glasses when she passed it to him. He then dutifully dropped the item into the plastic evidence baggie and zipped it shut, before labelling it clearly with a permanent marker he dug out of his cargo pants pocket.

"Hey, don't insult my eating choices. I say nothing about your addiction to ..." Naruto slammed his mouth shut at Sakura's glare. Oh he had better not say anything about her morning coffees rituals. So instead, he quickly changed what he was going to say, stumbling a moment over his words, before finding a good cover, "...flirting with Kiba. You know, you have horrible taste in men. Who knows where that mangy stray's been?"

"And who would you suggest I flirt with, Neji?" Sakura scoffed, using her pen to lift the hem of the corpse's shirt. Sure enough, a gun was stuck between the waist-band of his dark pants. She gingerly removed the weapon and handed it to Naruto for bagging. "He doesn't exactly act receptive, if you know what I mean," she grumbled. It was a pity. Naruto's expression turned painful.

"...I'd rather I didn't know what you mean." A full body shudder wracked his muscled frame. "God, Sakura-chan, don't go desperate on me for a guy with a tree stuck up his ass. I have other very nice friends you know."

"And what _did_ you mean, Sakura?" Neji's smooth tone floated over Sakura. Her eyes widened. Caught off guard by the unexpected third party and flustered, it took her a moment to respond.

"Uh... that you... have better taste in women?" she said, but the lilt at the end turned the statement into a question. She bit her lower lip to contain her mirth.

"You bet I do," Neji smirked, knowing he'd caught her. "Maybe if you put a little more effort into your appearance, I might be more receptive... though I guess I should be thankful that you at least shower..." Naruto, though, was unruffled by the other man's sudden arrival.

"Oh come off it, you stick-in-the-mud. I've seen you check out Sakura-chan's legs even more than Kiba some days," Naruto commented, grinning, and then scowling when he realized what he'd just said. Neji scowled at Naruto's prompt removal of the upper hand in his possession. He raised a brow.

"Hn," Naji grunted. "Did you find anything worth finding?" he asked, changing the subject. Sakura grinned at his deflection and sent her partner a mental high five with her eyes.

"Yeah, I got a pair of sunglasses with possible prints and a handgun. The coroners can have him now." She stood and stretched. "Let me go see what else Kiba and Akamaru dug up," she added, rolling her shoulders and walking off in the direction of Kiba and Akamaru. Naruto grumbled and sent his retreating partner a look that bespoke of much suffering.

He sighed and called after Sakura, "I think I'll go see if any of the other coroners need my help with that second newly found present. I've had enough cock-blocking for one morning, thank you." With that rather succinct declaration, he made a rather dramatic and pointed show of moving as far from Kiba's location as he could get. She chuckled to herself but kept walking, shaking her head at her partner's antics. Never a dull moment with that one.

Kiba stood and watched Sakura's approach. Her entire approach. His wolfy grin did not even falter when she approached him and punched his shoulder.

"Kiba, do you have to do that?" she complained, scowling at him. He chuckled.

"When you stop looking like that, I will try." He continued talking before she could respond, "Lookie what Akamaru dug up," he added, pointing to the seventh, and Sakura hoped, the final corpse.

"Seven is our lucky number?" Sakura asked as she fished a string of keys from the belt of the latest find. She dropped the keys into a plastic bag and handed it to Kiba for labelling.

"Can I have your number?" Kiba asked bluntly, ignoring her question. It was another of their flirting rituals. He would ask for her number after a good find, and her answer would always be the same.

"No. You're not that lucky." She grinned and knelt by the body, scanning it with her sharp green eyes. She had a feeling about this one.

"You wound me," Kiba sighed dramatically a hand over his 'broken' heart. "This is what, the ninth time you've rejected me?"

"Yeah, yeah, so you always say," Sakura chuckled. "Aha! Now this is what I was looking for!" she declared, going on all fours to reach below the dumpster to grab her prize. "You know, Kiba, you could help me reach it."

He hummed and watched, fascinated as her bottom wiggled back in forth in her struggles, "Nah, you're doing just fine."

"Kiba, I can feel your eyes on my ass," she grunted, trying not to get too dirty. It took a few tries and a little inventive stretching, but she managed.

"Mmm, yeah?" Kiba murmured absently, his appreciative gaze not wavering for even a moment.

"Take them off, please," she demanded, sending a glance behind her. Where there had been only one pair of legs behind her, there were now two.

"This is a better look than before, Sakura-san," Neji said bluntly, a rare grin on his lips as he joined Kiba in his perusal of her behind. Kiba, head cocked to the side, eying her and making a camera gesture with his hands, nodded in agreement. Sakura gaped, still on all fours with the cellular phone she'd found in her grip. Before she could get her reeling mind to stop spinning, Naruto stalked over clapping his hands loudly.

"Alright, Alright! Break it up, break-it-up! Nothing to see here, people." He didn't sound happy to have been pulled inadvertently back into his guard dog role.

"Naruto... are you calling_ that ass_ 'nothing'?" Kiba asked in a flat, disbelieving tone. "I'm beginning to worry about you."

Naruto grimaced, "Not around the dead bodies, you deviant cur." He scowled darkly at the second shot. "Dude, she's like my sister. I don't know where you were raised, but I neither pick up chicks at murder scenes, nor do I ogle my baby sister's backside!" He shuddered for good measure, wholeheartedly disturbed by the thought of checking out his partner in that manner.

"Deviant cur?" Neji mimicked, eyeing Sakura as she stood. "Where did you get that? Been watching late night historical TV series, eh, Naruto?"

Sakura thought about interrupting this rather odd masculine display but sighed. Shoulders dropping as she gave up and went about bagging her findings, she tried to ignore the fact that they were discussing her butt as if it were something hanging in a museum. She walked off, successfully leaving them to their 'man-talk' and avoiding further perusal of her body parts. Naruto was unsuccessfully trying to defend himself against Neji's pointed comments and Kiba's brasher ones as she moved away, and she grinned to herself, smothering a chuckle.

Boys would be boys, no matter the time or place.

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**ROOT HQ  
1:05 pm**

"Have they found anything off the prints yet?" Sakura asked impatiently, leaning back in her chair and taking a sip of her third coffee for the day. What could she say? Some people smoked, some drank... she had coffee. French, italian, latte- hot or iced... beautiful coffee. Seated at his desk a few feet away Neji grunted; though he was more patient than his pink haired co-worker, he himself was also growing weary of the wait.

"No, nothing is flagging," Neji, his eyes dropping back to the screen that was currently showing rapidly changing fingerprint patterns as the system matched the fingerprints of the victims and their effects to those in the ROOT database. "These guys have no priors, it seems," he added, scowling in annoyance.

"What about the casings we found in the walls? Anything back on those yet?" Sakura asked Naruto who walked out of the mini-kitchen with a steaming mug of coffee. She dropped her gaze to her own half finished beverage, pursing her lips. Should she get up and get a refill or wait?

"They should be done in a minute," the blonde replied. "They had better be done in a minute, dattebayo," he added, scratching his head. No sooner said than done. The telephone on Sakura's desk jangled loudly.

"Agent Haruno," she answered, holding the receiver in place with her cheek and shoulder while she reached blindly for the muffin on her desk. Naruto watched her take the muffin and ducked his head, praying she was too preoccupied to notice the bite he'd already stolen.

_"Agent Haruno, this is Iruka from the lab... we have something on these shells and casings,"_ the ROOT lab worker said without preamble.

"Alright, we'll be down in a minute," Sakura said curtly, hanging up. "Well guys," she said, eyeing the muffin suspiciously. Had she already taken a bite? She shrugged mentally, before continuing. "The lab has results for us. Let's go." She took a healthy bite and grabbed her jacket. As Sakura glided from the room Naruto deflated gratefully and went to grab his own jacket. Neji sent him a flat look.

"Lucky you, Muffin Stealer." The blonde curled his lip in response, scowling.

"Shove it, Closet Perv."

"You walk thin ice for a thief." Naruto paled at the hidden insinuation in his frenemy's tone.

"You wouldn't..." he whispered, voice hoarse with betrayed disbelief. Neji merely shrugged and trailed after the pinkette a smug air of satisfaction coating his figure. Naruto scowled and hurried to catch up. Damn that Neji, he'd get his someday.

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**ROOT HQ: Computer Lab  
1:15pm**

Sakura breezed through the lab's automatic doors with an air of a woman who was expecting good news. With no ceremony or wasting times with hellos, the impatient woman cut to the chase.

"What you got for us, Iruka-san?"

Iruka smiled, his face lighting up with the action, and said, "I think you're definitely going to like this."

Sakura moved closer to where he had the casings, lined up neatly under a row of microscopes, and peered through the lens of one of them. Once satisfied that she'd gotten a good look, the lab tech gestured for the three field agents to follow him, leading them toward his computer station. After making sure their attention was focused on the display monitors, he began typing quickly on the keyboard, fingers flying over the buttons with the ease of long practice.

"If you'll see here," he said, pointing to the grooves on the enlarged images of the casings that were displayed on the computer screen. "... all the grooves on these casings were made by a similar type of weapon, namely..." A three dimensional image of a large caliber gun popped up on the screen. "... this baby here. This is a custom weapon, made and distributed by the Akatsuki..." he paused for effect.

"Gang activity?" Neji and Naruto breathed at the exact moment. They scowled at each other, not liking the harmony the action had showed. Their silent and childish rivalry was promptly ignored by the other two in the room.

"Then why did none of the names raise any flags?" Sakura asked, frowning. With perfect timing, another voice joined those in the room.

"Well, because they aren't from Konohagakure, and half our vics aren't Akatsuki either." Sakura turned to face Rock Lee, one of the workers at the ROOT coroner's office. He was, as usual, wearing his eyesore green signature coat. "And get this," Lee continued. "There are bullets here that don't match the Akatsuki guns. Someone else was picking at these guys."

"There was an eighth shooter?" Sakura couldn't keep the excitement from her voice. This information was imperative. It meant that there was someone alive out there with answers. Someone they could hopefully find. Green eyes gleamed with cat-like ferocity. These answers were something ROOT not only needed, but would love to get their hands on.

"Apparently," Lee went on. "We were not able to reconstruct the bashed in phone, but we did manage to hack the one Haruno-san found under the dumpster. It's a burner phone, but we managed to get the last call, one that, based on the call log, didn't get to go through." Lee handed Sakura a sheet with a list of numbers.

Neji and Naruto crowded closer, peering over each of her shoulders, to view the content as well.

"This is the Amegakure area code," Neji stated. "So eight people end up in a shootout, some are Akatsuki, and some are unknown entities... no one has priors... one person tries to make a call to an Amegakure number but dies, and another escapes." He frowned. "What is this mess?"

Naruto scowled hands fisted, "So we still have 7 dead, and no answers. Just more riddles. Gah!" he scrubbed his hands through his hair making its already messy do spikier. "I hate riddles! Can't they just shoot each other and then graffiti their names on the wall? 'HI! My name is...'?" Once again Naruto was promptly ignored while the adults in the room continued to pore over the number list.

"I think our best bet, in regards to finding out who the shooter is and what the bigger picture is, would be to check out these numbers." Neji tapped a finger on the page thoughtfully while Sakura nodded along to his deductions. She looked up at Rock Lee.

"Do we know who these numbers belong to?"

"No, but we can run them through the system," Iruka said, taking the paper from them and rapidly punching the numbers in. The small group turned to the computer and watched as the speedy system worked it technological magic.

"Uh... guys," Naruto said softly when the computer finished processing and searching the numbers. "I know I have seen that name before," he said, pointing to the third name on the list. Pushing Iruka out of the way, Naruto leaned in front of the computer, explaining as he typed with one finger. Iruka's eye twitched at the blonde's slow type-picking, but in deference to the room's atmosphere, he remained silent.

"Back when I was in Narcotics, I pulled a drug case that led me to Amegakure," he said as he entered his search in the database. "And this name came up from... the Sound Syndicate. They make the purest, most expensive crystal cocaine I have ever seen..." He leaned back and pointed to the screen. "Minamoto Kikira is just another name for a woman named Tayuya... who I know about, but also know no one has ever managed to catch her. This one is as slippery as an eel." His face was grim, "In the underground they refer to her as the Crystal Snake because of it. If she's involved it's definitely not good news for us."

"Well, on the bright side, at least we have something to tell Tsu.." A horror soundtrack interrupted Sakura's sentence. "Speak of the devil," she said, grinning. "Tsunade-sama," she answered cheerfully, pressing her cellular phone and squelching a grin.

_"Sakura,"_ the ROOT captain's voice blared over the phone. _"Please say you have something on this case! The mayor is already up my ass about it!"_ Even those that didn't have the phone to their ears could hear their captain's yells and grimaced at the mental images.

"We have a lead... a very strong lead, but there are several really blaring questions that need answering," Sakura responded, raking a hand through her pink hair. "There are still important aspects missing to the puzzle, and they're too big to overlook. We need a little more time..."

_"You can't get a little more time!"_ the captain yelled. _"We need answers yesterday!"_

"In all fairness, Tsunade-sama, we only had a few hours..." Sakura mentioned, her tone a little placating. She heard Tsunade huff over the line and could picture the buxom blonde reaching for her flask of sake.

_"Fine, I will see what I can do. In the meantime, get your ass to my office and show me what you have so far,"_ Tsunade demanded, hanging up before Sakura could respond.

"Okay then, Tsunade-sama," Sakura said cheerfully, not really wanting to reveal that she'd been hung up on... but the deadpan expressions on the faces of the other occupants in the room told her she should not have bothered trying to hide the fact.

"She hung up on you, didn't she?" Naruto said plainly. Neji coughed softly into his fist, while the remaining two suddenly found the ceiling to be quite fascinating.

"Oh, shut up, Naruto," Sakura growled. "Print all this for me," she demanded of Iruka. "Lady Tsunade is waiting."

* * *

**Konohagakure Airport  
8:25 am**

Sakura hauled her luggage behind her as she made her way down the chute to the aeroplane that was leaving for Amegakure in a few minutes. Some of her suitcases were already on the plane. She was beginning to wonder if maybe it would have been best to take a bit less clothing and gear, but she truly had no idea what she would have left behind. There was also the fact that she didn't know when exactly she would be coming home. She already missed her bed.

After explaining what they had found so far to Tsunade, the ROOT leader had decided that the most efficient way to get more information was to actually go to Amegakure and dig around. Tsunade had also said that with Sakura gone, she could tell the mayor and the press that 'her best agents were currently working the case'. Despite Tsunade's sometimes brash exterior, the captain had given Sakura a one armed hug and had successfully convinced Naruto to stay in Konohagakure. Sakura honestly didn't know how she would manage with her partner there, so for that, she was extremely thankful to Tsunade-sama. She _did_ have to admit that she'd miss the Blonde terror, though. He had a way of making anywhere feel like home. She wouldn't, however, miss his smart mouth...much.

Letting the heavy bags rest at her feet, Sakura began digging her ticket from her purse to hand to the creepily smiling stewardess. Why was the airport staff always so disturbingly chipper? It was a great mystery to the pinkette, especially since it was hotter than hell in this building. Had they never heard of air conditioning? Mopping her sweaty forehead with a handkerchief, she waited somewhat patiently as they checked her ticket.

Sakura got to her seat, after the stewardess gave her a parting smile, and turned to the next person. She found herself seated beside a particularly good looking male. She gave him a small grin as she hefted her carry-on luggage into the overhead compartment, shaking her head when he moved to help her, and then sat beside him. He returned her smile with a dazzling one of his own, and Sakura thanked her lucky stars that she wasn't placed next to some squalling kid or loquacious old lady. She'd been stuck with that combo one too many times on one too many flights. It was a very welcome change and helped uplift her souring mood.

Ignoring the safety message she'd heard plenty of times before, Sakura leaned her head back and prepared herself to enjoy the flight.

* * *

**So that is it for chapter 1! Yes, we know there is no Itachi, but we promise he will be there next chapter! You already know what to do, but in case you aren't sure... REVIEW! Haha Tell us what you think!**


	2. Always One Step Ahead

**Never Turn Your Back**

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**_A TayMor and Addicted-to-GazettE collaboration..._**

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**Thank you guys so much for the reviews, the follows and the faves! We are so glad you like so far! To answer MissMeep's question, the guy was just a random guy! No need to raise any alarms! We know there are some slow parts, but we assure you things will speed up as the plot thickens! Just bear with us for the moment!**

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**Chapter 2: Always One Step Ahead**

**Amegakure no Sato **  
**10:45 am**

The car's engine purred, like the fine tuned machine it was, as Itachi and his partner, Kisame, parked in front of the Amegakure Regency Hotel. Unfortunately, it did little to drown out his partner's big mouth.

"... I swear to you, people don't know the meaning of service any more …"

Uchiha Itachi, true to his nature, was, for the most part, doing his utmost best at trying, though. He and his partner Hoshigaki Kisame had worked together in the Akatsuki for thirteen years now, and still the younger man had no idea how Kisame could talk about such mundane topics, especially while they were supposed to be on a stakeout. Whatever happened to constant vigilance? Luckily, with so many years of experience, it wasn't hard to keep his cool and thus he just blissfully tuned his partner out. Besides, Kisame knew better than to expect a response from the Uchiha.

The two men were slouched in the car - well, Kisame was slouched, and Itachi was sitting with perfect posture - watching the entrance to the hotel for the arrival of a couple of idiots stupid enough to borrow money from the Akatsuki and then fail to make their payments.

"I mean, come on," Kisame went on, around a mouthful of his Tuna Surprise sandwich, which he had picked up at a deli. "I clearly told her tuna with no mayonnaise, and look..." He waved his sandwich in front of Itachi's face before continuing, "...that is clearly mayonnaise!"

Itachi, though seeming wholly uninterested in what nonsense Kisame was spouting, finally reacted by wrinkling his aristocratic nose in disgust when he happened to catch a glimpse of the food in his partner's open trap.

"Oh. I know that look. 'Don't talk with your mouth full, Kisame, that's gross.' You remind me of my mother when you give me that look," Kisame grumbled before drawing on the straw of his beverage, slurping noisily just to annoy Itachi. It worked, if Itachi's stony gaze was anything to go by. A man had to get his kicks somehow. Turning his blank blue, almost black eyes to gaze back out the windshield and sighed almost imperceptibly as Kisame continued speaking.

"I ought to go back there and shove this sorry excuse for a sandwich right back in her face..." Kisame went on, not caring in the least that Itachi was unresponsive. He was used to it. "Maybe then she would learn a thing or two about listening to people's damn orders... and it's not just her," Kisame continued, getting a little worked up as he realized just how many people in Amegakure had bad customer service. With such a captive, silent audience, he was soon on a roll. "There was this one time I went to buy takeout at Takamura's - never go there, by the way, their fish is awful and the queso tastes like burnt rubber- anyway, I swear, the woman got _every_ aspect of my order wrong, and then had the gall to tell me that.."

"They're here," Itachi interrupted bluntly, reaching for the car door handle. Quickly sitting Up, Kisame stuffed the rest of his sandwich in his mouth and followed suit. If Itachi thought Kisame would shut up after they opened the door, he was wrong. Falling into step beside his partner as they strolled across the street, he continued his story cheerfully, loudly sucking mayonnaise from his fingers.

"... Yeah, where was I?...Oh, right..." the Hoshigaki went on, trying to see how long he could talk before Itachi snapped. It was a little game he played to amuse himself sometimes. "... so she gets my order wrong and then has the gall to tell me that it was my own fault. MY fault! MY fault that she can't tell that a roast beef special is _not _an avocado taco salad..."

"Kisame._.." _Itachi interrupted again as they weaved through the people milling about in front the hotel doors. Sometimes he thought the Hoshigaki purposefully spoke too much _just _to get on his nerves. A certain amount of loquaciousness he could tolerate, but sometimes Kisame took it a little far, as if he had to make up for the Uchiha's silence.

"Yes, Itachi?" When the man in question failed to respond Kisame prompted further, "You know...you have a penchant for interrupting people. Not only is it rude," Kisame started up again, " but it throws people off, you know..."

"_Kisame," _Itachi said again, pausing and turning to face his partner. "Please refrain from talking so much," he demanded politely. Kisame harrumphed, settling for muttering under his breath instead, while trying to hide his amusement from his partner. Itachi left the taller male to his mutterings without comment, for it was a better, _quieter_, alternative.

Making their way to the front desk wasn't too hard; the outside had been crowded but inside the lobby was virtually deserted. The lobby was large with a few smatterings of people here and there that spoke to each other in low tones and checked their luggage. Despite Kisame's carefree demeanor, he did his job well, covertly and methodically scanning over each face and corner of the room, confirming there was no hidden danger to either him, nor his partner.

Skirting around a woman tending to her whimpering child, Itachi stalked up to the receptionist.

"Welcome to the Amegakure Regency. How may I help?" she said chirpily upon their approach.

"I'm looking for the room of a Samanari Shirou and a Matsurashi Jidan," he said softly to the red headed woman behind the desk, not missing the way she self-consciously patted her hair under his gaze. Her cheeks warmed with a dusting of light pink under the intensity of his quiet eyes, but despite her obvious attraction to him, her bright blue eyes darted nervously back and forth between the two men. Attractive though they may be, the aura they carried made the hair at her nape stand on end.

Noticing her nervousness, Kisame gave her a wide grin and said, "They are our friends, see," he went on chattering while Itachi gave her a small smile, hoping he could pull of the unfamiliar gesture. The receptionist still looked dubious and obviously opted to be safe rather than sorry.

"I am sorry, gentlemen," she said, her smile wavering for a small moment. "But it is against company policy to give out any information regarding our guests. Maybe you can give them a call and ask for their room number, instead."

Itachi smiled and nodded then turned sharply to hide his scowl. That had been a miscalculation. Not that he was particularly proud of it, as it was something he'd been born with rather than earned, but women usually fell at his feet with the smallest provocation. The fact that _she_ hadn't followed the usual pattern just proved that Kisame had managed to annoy him more with his idiotic chatter than he'd meant to reveal. The slip annoyed the stoic Uchiha further; He usually wasn't so sloppy on a mission.

Now what? He knew the two dolts were in the hotel and although he had the patience to sit and wait for them to crawl out, his boss, Pein, surely did not. While Itachi pondered a method of finding out which room the two debtors were hiding in, Kisame was far from concerned about it and was already preoccupied.

"Oi, 'Tachi... look over there... five o'clock." Kisame stage whispered to his partner, gesturing in the direction he'd indicated with his eyes as well. Thinking Kisame had come up with a plan, Itachi followed his partner's line of sight, but all he noticed was a woman bent over her luggage as she zipped something inside it. She was wearing a loose grey top with black jeans that fit like a second skin, and heeled leather boots that stopped a couple inches below her knees.

How exactly was _that _supposed to help them? His left eyebrow rose.

"Just look at that, has legs up to her _ears_... eh," Kisame went on, his tone wonder-filled as he began a running commentary of the woman's assets. Itachi only frowned, knowing he should have known better than to give his partner the benefit of the doubt. He did his best to tune out the annoying commentary, but it was a little hard considering Hoshigaki was anything but discreet. As his partner sang the mystery woman's praises in a husky undertone in his ear, Itachi found himself admitting, if even only inwardly, that she did have exceptional legs. He was more of an ass man himself, but his preference did not serve as enough of a distraction because she was blessed in that region as well. The woman slowly rose to a standing position, tossing her curly blonde locks over her shoulders, and pulled up the handle to her suitcase.

Kisame clicked his tongue and groaned his appreciation of the female gender with a heartfelt, "God I love being a man." The woman began stalking purposefully to the elevators, and Itachi's eyes were glued to her jeans-encased rear end. The way it moved as she walked, her hips swaying...

It wasn't until she paused to enter the elevator that Itachi noticed two familiar faces disappearing behind a fern, and realized that he'd _actually_ been ogling a woman's ass. He scowled at his own breach of personal protocol and nudged Kisame's elbow forcefully.

"Kisame..." he muttered when his partner didn't respond.

"I know..." Kisame said. Itachi was relieved that at least Kisame had brought his attention back to their task, but then his partner continued speaking, and shot the theory to hell. "Her ass is _divine_ too." Itachi's scowl deepened.

"No, you idiot," he snapped, before trotting off in the direction of their targets. "Shirou and Jidan." Not caring by this point if his partner followed or not he stealthily made his way across the lobby. The men saw his approach, made more obvious than desired because the lobby was annoyingly empty, and made a run for the door. Eyes narrowing the Uchiha quickly followed after them.

By this time, the woman had disappeared into the elevator, which was a relief since it allowed Kisame's mind to return to the task at hand. Sighing regretfully, Kisame, who though at least a head taller than Itachi was not as fast, followed suit as Itachi gave chase. The Uchiha didn't bother to yell and tell the men to stop running because, let's face it, that would be useless.

Instead, he put his efforts into pursuit, dodging through the throng of people standing outside the lobby doors. The throng of people that seemed intent on getting in the way. Itachi didn't even reveal the annoyance he felt when the two men hopped into a blue sedan that was parked too conveniently for his liking, and peeled off down the road. Kisame, on the other hand, had far less self control and spat out a loud curse, glaring after their retreating taillights.

Itachi ran across the road, Hoshigaki not far behind. Effortlessly, Itachi dodged the passing cars and remotely started his car, yanking the door open and sliding behind the wheel. By the time Kisame got in, the car was in gear and Itachi's door locked. The Uchiha pulled on his seatbelt with a swift movement and shot off into the road as soon as Kisame slammed his door. He swerved expertly to avoid crashing into the rear end of a passing car, overtaking it instead of slowing down.

"I would tell you to slow down, but I really don't want you to," Kisame laughed as he yanked his seatbelt down with one hand, while the other reached for the GPS. Itachi would have his head if he wasn't belted in. Seriously, the man could be anal about the smallest things. The screen of the GPS lit up, displaying a small map of the area. Trusting his partner to safely navigate them through the rushing traffic, Kisame worked on finding them a shortcut or at least a way to block off their quarries.

"There is a roadblock on Kita Street, so take the next left turnoff..." Kisame said, not taking his eyes off the GPS. He felt the car swerve sharply as Itachi overtook yet another car and smoothly hugged the curb to reach the street at their left. When it came to road safety, Itachi abided by everything apart from things like the speed limit, and drove with practiced ease at even the fastest speeds.

"Alright turn right, turn right," Kisame directed gripping the door to avoid being pulled harshly by gravity. "... ahh... and then right again, right here... Itachi don't miss the damn turn!" Itachi released a rare chuckle at Kisame's excited directions.

Weaving through the sparse traffic, Itachi manoeuvred the car onto Kisame's street of choice. He gave a grunt of satisfaction when he saw the faces of Shirou and Jadin in the traffic travelling perpendicularly to their street. Never once had it passed through Itachi's mind to doubt his partner's lead. Though Kisame drove him up the wall, they hadn't been assigned partners for slaps and giggles, but because they worked perfectly as a team. He pulled onto the street, sending the two would-be escapees a pointed look, eyes glinting with a silent promise.

_Let's get this over with._

* * *

**Amegakure No Sato**  
**Amegakure Regency Hotel**  
**10:50 am**

'_Let's get this over with._'

Sakura frowned and rubbed a blonde lock of her wig between her fingertips as the red-headed concierge took _forever_ to search the false name the pinkette-gone-blonde had used to book her room before she'd boarded her plane almost four hours ago. The concierge was using only two fingers to hit the keys, her shiny acrylic nails too long to type properly. Tapping her heeled boots on the tiled floor and snapping her gum smartly; the picture perfect example of an impatient tourist, Sakura glanced around the lobby as she waited. She was feeling a bit jet lagged from her three hour red-eye flight, and really wasn't in the mood for any of this, but Sakura kept reminding herself to control her temper. It wouldn't due to cause a scene and draw unwanted attention.

"Here you are, Morita-san, your room key." The red head sent her an overly bright smile before sliding the plastic card over the smooth desktop.

Finally in possession of her room number, Sakura sent a faux smile in the direction of the concierge and bent to put her passport and documents back in her suitcase. Sakura felt she must really be already missing Kiba's flirtatious ogling, because she was getting the lingering feeling that she was being watched. Not wanting to be too obvious and look around, Sakura casually straightened and flipping her fake blonde curls back over her shoulder, stalked off towards the elevators, tugging a little on her loose grey top.

By the time she had an excuse to turn, the feeling had already abated to some extent. Frowning and trying to shake off the feeling, Sakura was thankful when the elevator doors slid shut, and she pressed the button for the fifth floor; where her room was situated. It was turning out that her undercover mission was already off to a rocky start.

* * *

**Amegakure no Sato**  
**Near the Freeway**  
**11:01 am**

Rocks tumbled in the car's wake as the chase continued.

"Wait for it...Wait for it..." Kisame leaned forward eagerly in his seat. "Alright! Take this turn! We'll cut the bastards off at the pass!" They had chased the two miscreants out of the city and were almost at the freeway. The lucky bastards had managed to evade them due to the traffic, but that was thinning the closer they got to the freeway.

Itachi jerked the wheel with a sharp snap, bringing the car around the corner fast enough to make any street racer green with envy. He punched it with his foot, the pedal meeting the floorboards, and the car roared as it flew down the streets.

When they hit the freeway, the traffic thinned almost to nonexistence, already fairly light since the majority of the populace was at work. Itachi's car shot forward, pulling alongside their quarries. He scowled as he slammed the side of his car into the side of their sedan, not apt to damage his vehicle. Jidan's wide, panicked blue gaze shot to Itachi's cold black one as he tried to swerve out of the way. The man knew he was doomed. Itachi drew back a bit, allowing Jidan to pull ahead once more, then slammed the front fender of his car into the rear of theirs, pushing Jidan's sedan forward.

"Oh yeah, take that you bastards," Kisame crowed from beside Itachi. "But let's stop playing with our food, 'Tachi." Itachi ignored his partner, pulling around to the right side of the battered blue sedan so that they were right outside his window. He pulled his Beretta from his shoulder holster and rested it on his lap as he drove alongside them.

Winding down his window with one hand, Itachi kept his gaze on the other car, trusting Kisame to watch the road for him. He picked up the gun with his left hand and held it out the window, pointing it directly at the front passenger window of the sedan. He was sending a clear message without opening his mouth even once. A message Jidan clearly got because as soon as Itachi slowed enough for their sedan to take the lead, they pulled over. Satisfied that at least one thing had gone his way today, and that his car would not have to take much more abuse, Itachi put his abused baby in park on the soft shoulder of the freeway.

Kisame looked over at his partner, "Can I take a nap?" It was his way of asking if his partner if he could stay behind. Itachi sent Kisame a look that said 'You're joking, right?' and stepped out of the car. Kisame sighed sadly before getting out of the car, "I thought not."

Itachi left the car on, stalking over to the other car and yanking the door open. He dragged Jidan out of the driver's seat by his collar and pushed him forcefully against the side of the car. Holding him firmly with one hand, he used the other to check for weapons. Shirou tried to scramble out and away from the sedan but drew up short as he spotted Kisame. The lazy man had walked to the passenger's side undetected and now stood casually holding his gun loosely, the barrel trained it right between Shirou's wide, terrified eyes.

"Ah, ah, ah, little runaway. That's no way to treat someone who was your friend," he tutted softly. "Speaking of friends... It's only polite when borrowing something that you give it back... in our case, with interest."

"We... we just need more time, man," Shirou stammered, raising his hands in the universal sign of surrender as he backed away.

"You had enough time, you little maggot," Kisame barked, eliciting a yelp from the dark haired male trying to back away. "We were even nice enough to extend your deadline the last two times you asked." Kisame backed Shirou up until his back hit the side of the car and pressed the barrel of the gun under the shorter man's chin.

Done searching Jidan, Itachi yanked him back from the side of the car and marched the trembling man over to his partner. They lined the runners up side by side, and Itachi cocked his slightly head to one side, eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Now then, cough up what you owe us." Itachi spoke the words softly, enough cold steel in his voice that raising it for the desired effect was unnecessary.

Jidan and Shirou shared a panicked look, before swallowing, Jidan spoke up.

"W-what if we don't actually _have_ it?" he asked, the pitch of his voice steadily getting higher.

Kisame chuckled darkly and sent Itachi a loaded look. He turned his attention back to the hapless duo, the sun gleaming menacingly off the metal of his gun.

"Then your day just got a whole lot worse..._Friend_."

* * *

**Amegakure Regency Hotel**  
**11: 05 am**

Her day had just gotten a whole lot worse.

The information broker that she'd been given as a contact had apparently skipped town. According to his harried commentary, he _had_ to skip town, because he'd sold the wrong information to the wrong people. Which meant she was now up a damn river without a paddle. Having taken her wig off, Sakura ran her hands through bright pink hair. What the hell was she supposed to do now?

_'The least I can do is call Tsunade and Naruto,'_ she thought, taking up the burner phone she'd purchased in the airport. She punched in Tsunade's number and waited for her boss to pick up. It seemed her boss had been practically sitting on the phone because it only rang once before the line connected.

_"HARUNO!" _Tsunade yelled into the phone. Sakura cringed. It sounded like Tsunade was already in a foul mood. The Pinkette didn't relish the fact that soon, thanks to her bad news, it would be getting worse. She mentally apologized to the agents back home.

"Hey, boss," she returned, eyeing her reflection in the hotel room mirror. It was a nice room. Simple, but tasteful.

_"What in Kami's name took you so damned long to call?"_ Tsunade barked, her impatience evident in her tone.

"Aahh..." Sakura hedged. "If I say I forgot..." she said sheepishly, twirling on a lock of her hair. She heard Naruto's voice in the background, a tinge of excitement in his tone.

"_Is that Sakura-chan?" _her blonde partner was asking. Sakura heard Tsunade answer the affirmative, then there was some shuffling, lots of yelling and some dubious sounding thumps on the other end of the line.

_"Sakura? Sakura-chan? OWW!"_ Naruto called into the phone. There was more shuffling and more yelling. Furrowing her brow, as much in concern as confusion, Sakura blinked before answering.

"Uh... Yes, it's Sakura... Hey, Naruto," Sakura said, stifling a giggle. Her blonde partner had way too much energy for his own good.

_"Sakura-chaannn,"_ he whined immediately. _"What took you so long to call? I was worried sick!"_ Sakura rolled her eyes heavenward.

"Geez, Naruto. I was only gone a couple hours. I got here, I checked in at the hotel, and I am perfectly alright," she said, laughing a little. "You guys treat me like I'm an invalid sometimes!" She paused a moment when her cell phone beeped, indicating she had an incoming call, "Hey guys I gotta go. I'm getting another call. I'll report back if I find anything interesting."

* * *

**Rinnegan Records Building **  
**11:45pm**

"Your phone's ringing again, 'Tachi."

Kisame observed this rather blandly as they walked the halls to their bosses office in the Rinnegan Records' head office. Pein's day job was a film and music producer, and Rinnegan Records was the rather lucrative cover of what his business really was.

"I know," Itachi muttered blandly. Pein had called half hour ago, interrupting their debt collection task and ordering them to come into the office. Coming into Pein's office meant they would most likely have a long winded discussion about something or other, and that meant he was going to miss the Uchiha family reunion... which was why he'd been ignoring his family's phone calls for the past twenty minutes. He really wasn't in the mood to tell them that no, he wouldn't be coming home for now. Sometimes his job sucked so bad it drove him to the brink of cursing, which he never did. Times like now, he'd like nothing more than to go home, be in the presence of his family, and see his little brother Sasuke. Itachi absently wondered how the boy was doing. He was hardly a boy anymore... come to think of it, Sasuke was around twenty four now! Had so much time really passed? It was a sobering thought.

His phone began ringing again.

"Just answer the damn thing, Itachi, It's driving me up the wall," Kisame growled as they passed through the lobby and got to the elevators. Itachi gave an almost imperceptible sigh and reached into his pocket for his smart phone.

"Hn," he grunted in answer to the call.

"_Itachi... I've been trying to get you for ages,"_ his mother said, worry evident in her voice. Itachi clenched his jaw for a small moment.

"I realise, Okaa-san," he said softly, blinking slowly.

_"Well... where are you? Everyone is here already,"_ his mother went on. Her voice sounded strained, even over the line.

"I won't be there for a wh.."

He didn't even get a chance to voice his excuses.

"_Uchiha Itachi,"_ Mikoto scolded, interrupting him. _"You promised you would be here! You're not coming, are you?"_ Itachi sighed.

"I promised to _try_, Okaa-san," he continued, his eyes sliding shut as he tried to keep his own disappointment from leeching into his tone. "I will still try to get there before everyone is gone, but I have a meeting." He tried to ignore Kisame's caustic look. Kisame had no remaining family, and always tried to tell Itachi how lucky he thought he was. He usually never understood how Itachi could pass up the opportunity to spend time with his family, especially after his father, Fugaku's death.

_"Itachi... Please there's something I need to tell you... I can't talk over the phone... so...Come home..." _Mikoto's voice shook and he felt guilt eat at his heart.

"I'll try to hurry, but I can't make any promises. I have to go now." Trying to tell himself he wasn't the worst son in the world, Itachi quickly said his goodbyes and hung up the phone before his mother could batter his resolve any further.

There was a soft _'ding'_ as the elevator stopped at the top floor, where Pein's office was located, and the doors slid open. Itachi and Kisame nodded at Konan, Pein's girlfriend, who was waiting at the door. She stepped in as they stepped out, a large sheaf of papers in her hands. She was a face they were used to seeing around the building since she was also one of Pein's star actresses. The three nodded politely in greeting, before moving on.

Kisame opened his mouth to say something about how Itachi had handled the phone call, but a sharp look from the shorter man had him slamming it back shut. Itachi pushed open the door to Pein's office after giving the wood a short rap with his knuckles.

Pein was standing at the floor length window staring out at Amegakure. He turned slowly when Itachi and Kisame stepped into the office, his eyes sharpening and his lips tightening in anger. Even his overly stiff and straight posture gave of warning signs. Their boss wasn't happy with them in the least. His heavily pierced face showing strain, he waited for the door to close behind them before he erupted.

"What is the meaning of the Konohagakure situation, Itachi, Kisame? Explain yourselves!" he barked, scraping his ring-adorned fingers through his spiky orange hair. Kisame's eyes widened, but Itachi's expression did not change... Outwardly, at least. "Do you _want_ us to be taken for bumbling idiots, or is there a perfectly good reason for this _mess?_" Pein roared, his face reddening with anger.

"Ano... I have no idea what you are talking about, Pein-sama," Kisame said in the miniscule pause they were allowed.

This seemed to be the wrong answer as Rein eyes flashed dangerously, a sarcastic smile twisting his lips.

"Are you both _children?_ Must I hold your hand as I spell out _everything_?" Pein spat, slamming his palms on the surface of his large desk. Neither Kisame nor Itachi so much as flinched. Both merely stood still as stone against the tidal wave that was their master's fury.

"It might be prudent to at least inform us about what has you so agitated, Pein-sama," Itachi said calmly, his hands at his sides and his face in its usual apathetic mask. He had no idea what had Pein so angry, and he hated not knowing what was going on.

"You want me to inform you..." Pein growled. "I'll inform you, alright. The Konohagakure deal is in the _dust!" _he yelled. Pein paused a moment shaking his head, visibly making an effort to calm his temper.

"I'd expect this sort of mistake from perhaps Deidara, and Tobi, but not from you two."

"What mistake, Pein-sama?" Kisame asked, getting annoyed at their boss's ambiguity. Itachi could understand his annoyance, because getting berated for something they had no clue about was getting old very fast. He had patience, but was tired of the puzzles running rampant in every word that came out of Pein's mouth.

The two watched with guarded eyes as Pein began to pace back and forth over the carpet.

"The agreement with Sound Syndicate went south in Konohagakure. Apparently you two imbeciles couldn't handle the task of simply getting the message over to Maito Gai, and now good men from both our sides are pushing daisies because of it!" Pein ranted, his eyes blazing.

"Fukano..." Itachi said softly. Impossible. "I watched Hatake get on the plane myself. He's the best at taking messages," Itachi stated, defending himself. "I not only watched the plane go up, but I confirmed his arrival in Konohagakure airport."

"I can confirm that, Pein-sama," Kisame said firmly from beside Itachi. The two men stared down Pein, watching the expressions flit over his face with record speed. Disbelief. Surprise. Comprehension. Confusion. It was a little ironic that confusion came after comprehension, but Itachi could understand.

"Then... then what happened over there?" Pein queried, more to himself than anyone else. It was a good question.

"Have Sound Syndicate been in contact with you since?" Kisame asked, his dark eyes flashing. It was no secret that he despised the Otogakure natives. He just couldn't stand them. They annoyed Itachi to no end as well, but he knew better than to let his personal feelings affect the Akatsuki's dealings with them.

"No, they haven't," Pein spat, rubbing his face with his hands. Kisame and Itachi spoke in synchronization as both their minds flashed to the only person they could think of that would know what really went down.

"Tayuya."

* * *

**Amegakure Residential District**  
**1:07 pm**

_Tayuya._

Even the sound of the name put him on edge.

Itachi wove his car through the domestic tree-lined streets in silence. Almost oppressive silence. Itachi didn't mind working without his loud mouthed partner, if fact, most days he'd prefer it, but still after spending the entire morning in the loud Hoshigaki's presence, the quiet was a little disconcerting. Itachi tried to shake it off as he slowed to a stop at the red light.

Hoshigaki had been working in tandem with a different member on a deal with some club owner in the gambling district. It seemed one of Kisame's informants had a juicy lead that couldn't be put on the back burner, and so the grinning giant and his shorter partner had gone their separate ways after leaving Pein's office. Divide and conquer, or so they said. Remembering the the older man's parting jokes about being fine on his own and that he was going slummin' so Itachi could do get his head checked in peace, brought a rare half smile to the Uchiha's face.

Accelerating when the light turned green, Itachi soon found himself pulling up to a by now familiar two story yellow house with a compact blue pick-up in the drive. It was a place both her and his partner often ended up at, for one reason or another. Putting the car in park, Itachi killed the engine and stepped out to stroll up the walkway.

A cheerful, hand painted sign had been set up, announcing to visitors that Dr. and Dr. Atsuga's House of Healing was currently open for business between the hours of eight am till noon, in which they'd break for lunch. Itachi didn't bother checking his watch to see if he'd made it on time. Being close "family friends" of the couple who ran the business, he needed neither an appointment, nor did he need to pay heed to time constraints.

Pulling open the screen door, the Uchiha strolled right in. The front room was spacious and bright, and had quite probably been at one point a family room. Now however, it had been remodelled into a fully functional lobby, and waiting room. The walls were painted a soft buttery yellow and a faded but still plush couch sat against the far wall. Tables holding lamps and magazines had been placed strategically. None of these commodities, however, interested Itachi.

He walked straight to the counter and lightly rapped his knuckles on the plastic dividing window, to gain the receptionist's attention.

She gave him a distracted glance, before going back to reading her book.

"Sorry, we're not taking patients right now." She popped her gum, a habit that Itachi has always abhorred, and continued. "Come back around three." His answering smile was thin and didn't reach his eyes.

"I'm not here as a patient." Perhaps it was something in the way he said it, a cold warning underneath his otherwise pleasant voice, but the receptionist paused and gave him her full attention. Her eyes narrowed, as she set aside her novel.

"State your business."

"I've come with a message." He spoke simply, long used to the current game.

"Name?" The blond tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she pulled out a ledger.

"Kacho Inoshi wants to send his regards." The password flowed easily and naturally. She gave him a smile, as beautiful as it was false.

"The Doctors are in the back, do you need me to guide you?"

Itachi shook his head once and began to move toward what in a normal house would be the Kitchen. He had barely taken two steps before the door opened from the other side and a gorgeous blonde stepped through, her head held down as she perused a stack of files in her hand. The carpeted floor muted the sounds of her high heeled pumps as she stalked across the room.

"Takari, I thought I told you no patients before …" her voice faded into nothingness as she looked up and saw Itachi. "... three," she finished. "Oh shit," she tacked on, cocking a skirted hip and sighing. "You again."

* * *

**Amegakure Hip Strip**  
**1:12 pm**

'You Again. Back for another round?'

Sakura grinned at the sign's message as she pushed open the door to a bar in the now quiet clubbing and gambling strip in Amegakure's downtown. She knew that in a matter of hours, the area would be clogged with party goers of all shapes and sizes, but it was still a little weird that it was so quiet. She allowed her eyes to adjust to the darkened interior of the bar, and let her sharp eyes scan the seedy looking occupants of the establishment.

Her pink hair was concealed beneath a black wig cut in the shape of a bob, and she'd changed into leather pants, a tight white T-shirt with a V-neck and a biker jacket. This she'd paired with combat boots and heavy eye make-up. She let the door swing shut behind her, and forced herself not to let the bartender's lecherous gaze annoy her too much. She was here for information, and sometimes lecherous gazes meant information.

"Scotch, on the rocks," she said, lowering her voice to mask her Konoha accent as she slid onto a barstool. The bartender, a wiry man in his thirties - and not too bad looking either - nodded and sent her a lopsided grin. He leaned against the bar as he slid the drink her way.

"What's a pretty thing like you doing at a place like this at this time of day?" he asked, sliding a cigarette between his lips and lighting it. Sakura smiled at him, taking a tiny sip of the drink.

"Oh... this and that," she answered evasively. His eyes slid over her chest, which she'd allowed to be a bit more exposed than usual.

"So... what do they call a pretty thing like you?" he went on, reminding her of a seedier, much less effective Kiba. She forced a smile to her lips.

"We can swap tidbit for tidbit," Sakura said huskily, fluttering her eyelashes subtly... not enough for him to think she was flirting, but enough for him to hope she was.

"You have my attention... Ladies first, right? What do you need to know?" the bartender asked, wiping the surface of the counter with a damp cloth.

"If a girl wants to be in the know around here, where does she go?" Sakura asked, leaning forward and watching as his eyes dropped to her V-necked T-shirt again. One of her eyebrows, painted black to match her wig, rose as she waited for his watery grey gaze to make its way back to her own one, made brown by contact lenses.

"Well, tell me what you go by, and I'll tell you where you need to go," the bartender said, another lopsided grin stretching his lips. Sakura smiled.

"The name's Ana," she said, sticking out her hand. He grasped it in his much larger, calloused hand and gave it a small shake.

"Kiro," he returned, returning the shake. "In regards to your question," the bartender sent a pointed glance in the direction of the back of the bar where two men were having a deep conversation. Sakura felt her mouth go a little dry as she recognized the taller of the two. Hoshigaki Kisame. The man was very high up in the ranks of the Akatsuki, and though she had never seen him close up before, she definitely knew the face.

"That guy there is your best bet," the bartender continued, not noticing the flash of recognition in Sakura's eyes.

"You've been a real help, Kiro-kun," Sakura said, her voice dripping honey as she lowered her lashes and gave Kiro a sultry gaze. She slid double the amount necessary for the drink onto the counter and walked in Kisame's direction. The tall man, obviously more interested in talking to her than to the man in front him, dismissed the man and sent her a meaningful look as she approached him. She leaned her hip against the table and sent him a look through heavy lidded eyes, not even sparing the man shuffling out of the booth a passing glance.

"I'm told you're the man to go to if I'm to be in the know," Sakura said, allowing her voice to take on a low, husky tone. The Hoshigaki gave her a grin. It was just mischievous enough to be charming.

"That's entirely dependent on what you need to know," he quipped back, draining his glass before using it to gesture to the chair opposite him. Sakura accepted the genial invitation sizing him up subtly as she did. If she'd thought he was big and imposing before, up close he was a veritable giant. However, Sakura was a bit surprised to find that he was also quite good looking. True, he wasn't a knockout by any standard, but there was a definite appeal to the straight lines of his rugged features- especially paired with that crooked grin and easy-going manner.

She watched him watching her as he absently signalled for another drink, and Sakura didn't miss the way his eyes lingered on certain parts of her as he sized her up just as thoroughly. She waited impatiently for his eyes to travel back up, drumming her nails on the table top as she did so. When his eyes finally managed the trip back to her own, she raised one painted eyebrow at him, which he answered with an unrepentant grin.

She'd also be a fool to miss the razor sharp intelligence behind those dark eyes. Haruno Sakura was no fool.

"So what's your name, Little One?" he asked conversationally.

She smiled teasingly before answering with the same name she'd given the bartender. "Ana. Yours?"

A waiter swung by, interrupting their introductions by quietly and professionally placing her companion's new drink on the table without a word. Sakura found it interesting that the bartender had already known what he wanted. This showed evidence that the mafioso sitting across from her was most likely a regular at this establishment. When she found both waiter and Kisame turned to her questioningly, she quickly put a stop to her wool gathering and declined another drink. If one Akatsuki member was here enough to be able simply gesture to order a drink, then who knows if there were more.

Getting drunk while in enemy territory, no matter how friendly that enemy might appear, was just bad ethics. Not to mention it could get her killed. Kisame grinned at her as the waiter left.

"Not a drinker?" She deflected the question with a wink.

"I don't like to mix Business with Pleasure, Mr..." Kisame toasted her with the brandy glass in his paw of a hand.

"Kisame. _Hoshigaki_ Kisame. It's a name that you'd do well to remember little Ana." Setting the glass down on the table between them, he leaned forward on his elbows, arms folded neatly on the table's surface. Lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper he purred, "Now tell me little girl, what it is you need to know?"

Sakura mimicked his posture, lowering her voice as well, being doubly careful to hide her accent when speaking with the known Akatsuki member.

"I've been...out of town for quite a while, and I just got back." She licked her lips to wet them, inwardly grinning when Kisame's eyes followed the action with great intensity. Distracted was good. Catch him off guard, Sakura.

"I'm looking for someone...She's a... friend you might say." She lowered her lashes teasingly, playing him almost as artfully as she had played the bartender. "Can you help me?"

Having discovered that his mouth had become rather dry, Kisame cleared his throat and smirked, "Does this, 'friend' of yours have a name?"

Damn but she had pretty eyes. The color of expensive chocolate, and shaped like a cat's. Sakura lowered her lashes a moment before lifting them to pin him with a searching gaze. He met her temporary brown eyes squarely as she spoke one name.

"Tayuya."

If she hadn't been watching him closely, she would have missed it. That telltale shift in his eyes before he reigned it in. That slight tensing of his posture. Oh boy, he knew her alright. Sakura waiting with baited breath for his reaction, hoping she hadn't blown it.

Then as suddenly as he'd tensed, Kisame relaxed. He leaned back in his chair chuckling as if he'd been told a joke she wasn't privy too.

"You've got some dangerous friends there, little kitten." He spoke the words candidly, enjoying the way her eyes narrowed at his nickname for her. Just like a cat who'd had its fur rubbed the wrong way.

He took a moment to contemplate his options, eyeing her in silence for a long moment while swirling the remaining liquor in his glass. Sakura gulped, getting the odd sense that she was about to make a deal with a devil. Refusing to fidget with nerves, and not wanting to play with her hair and risk dislodging the wig, she instead crossed her legs and lifted her chin in challenge.

Finally Kisame seemed to have come to a decision. Draining the brandy and breaking out into a predatory grin, the Mafioso spoke.

"Let's strike a deal, you and I."

* * *

**Dr. and Dr. Atsuga's House of Healing**  
**1:18 pm**

"You struck a deal? With Tayuya?" Itachi nodded at Atsuga Shikaru's question... well his real name was Nara Shikamaru, but no one called him that without a very good reason. "Hrmm... what _do _I know about Tayuya?" the man asked rhetorically, sifting through a couple patient files on his desk. It seemed everyone Itachi was acquainted with had more sides to the ones they revealed to the general public. It was beginning to grate his nerves, this two-facedness.

"Yes, she owes me some information, and possibly a very large amount of money." Knowing that the Atsugas were in the business of information, providing them with some could be more valuable to them than actually paying them cash. With this thought in mind, Itachi continued.

"We made a deal with them, one that fell through when they killed our men, made off with our product, the money for the deal, and our guns. Luckily it seems some of our guys in Konohagakure managed to pick off some of theirs, but I need to get in contact with Tayuya," Itachi elaborated, hating having to string so many words together. He continued, however, explaining in more detail the more important points behind the deal that had been made with Sound Syndicate.

When Itachi stopped speaking, Shikaru and his wife, Inora, gave each other meaningful looks before Shikaru bent and withdrew a black and white invitation card from his desk drawer.

"There is going to be a... black and white masquerade event... Tayuya is expected to be in attendance," Shikaru said, handing Itachi the card. "We'll just have to find a way to get you on the list, and you're in. The rest of the information you need will be on the card." Itachi took the card without even looking at it. The Atsugas never sold bad information, preferring to tell the person they knew nothing if the facts were not already solid in their estimation. It had kept them from getting into 'troublesome' situations.

"Thank you for your time," Itachi said, giving them a small, polite bow before turning towards the door. Inora moved from her husband's side to open it for him, and to accept the white cash filled envelope Itachi had for the couple. Nodding his thanks, Itachi stalked back into the lobby. He passed the receptionist without acknowledging her and pulled open the front door, trotting down to his car and sliding in.

Needing to at least make an effort to make it all the way across Amegakure to participate in his family's reunion, Itachi knew he'd have to pass on any other Akatsuki-geared tasks for the day. He reached for his phone, speed-dialling Kisame.

"I'm going home," he said when his partner picked up. "Meet you tomorrow?"

_"Usual place, usual time,"_ Kisame confirmed, his pleasure at the fact that Itachi was trying to spend time with his family evident in his tone. The usual place Kisame spoke of referred to the Amegakure branch of the Corporate Global Bank, where he and Itachi had been posted as branch managers - Kisame being the senior branch manager and Itachi's supervisor.

"Tomorrow, then," Itachi murmured, saying his goodbyes and hanging up. He lifted the card and looked at it for the first time.

_We formally invite you to:_

**_The Annual Jinchuuriki Corporation Masquerade Ball_**

_held at the Raikage Auditorium, Amegakure,_

_on Saturday April 10 at 8:00 pm._

Itachi folded the card and tucked it into the briefcase he kept on the back seat of his car. He pulled out of the driveway of the Atsugas' place, barely even noticing the woman in the car that filled the spot he'd just left. His mind was already miles away, with his family.

Two and a half hours later, Itachi was pulling into the Uchiha residence and hoping that his mother wouldn't have his head. He was supposed to be here long before now. If the state the family members on the lawn seemed to be in was any indication, he had really missed out on something. It was pretty much pandemonium, and not the good kind. Chairs were overturned, the women were crying, the men were harried and the children looked confused.

Itachi had barely opened the door of his car when his aunt ran up to him, wringing her hands, tear stains streaking down her face.

"Itachi, thank _kami_ you're here! They took Mikoto and Sasuke!"

* * *

**TanTanTaaa! Ominous cliffie! Well, you know the drill! Review and let us know what you think! We had a little too much fun with Kisame this chapter, and before you ask, yes, we will be making Itachi and Sakura meet soon!**


	3. Break Down

**Never Turn Your Back**

**-****_A TayMor and Addicted-to-GazettE collaboration..._**

* * *

**Thank you all for the lovely response! All the follows, faves and reviews! Someone asked about Naruto and Kiba being CSI... Well, Kiba trains cadaver dogs, so I suppose he is a crime scene investigator, and Naruto and Sakura are ROOT agent partners and field agents. Hope that clears up any fog! Someone else asked for horrific scenes... we shall take it in mind and see where we can give you some of that! (^_^), now, onward to glory!...**

* * *

**A warning to be noticed: Dark themes ahead!**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Break Down**

**Amegakure no Sato**  
**Dr. and Dr. Atsugas House of Healing**  
**10: 42 am**

"Tell us how you this makes you feel," Atsuga Shikaru asked, fixing kind brown eyes upon his and his wife's patient. It was uncommon, though not unheard of, for a patient to request the presence of both therapists. The blonde in front them shifted in her seat, blinking rapidly and wiping her eyes. She had come almost twenty minutes before, and had been expressing various problems she had.

"I... I don't really know... I just have this feeling..." she started, her voice weak and thin. She nervously twirled a lock of her hair.

"Can you try to describe the feeling?" Inora asked, leaning forward and giving a comforting smile. "No need to be shy; everything you tell us will be kept with confidentiality."

"Well I... I've been having dreams about... about murders..." the blonde, who introduced herself as Morita Kirie, said while sending a quick glance in Inora's direction.

"Can you describe any of them?" Shikaru asked, scratching out something in mostly illegible script on his notepad. The blonde blinked rapidly, covering her face with her hands. Inora crossed the room and placed a gentle hand on her back.

"It's okay, take your time," she said softly, her voice soothing. A shudder went through the blonde.

"Okay... I... I could see a room... it had bright paint on the walls... really colourful..." she started, then began shaking a little. "I'm... I'm sorry, I can't do this," she continued, jumping up and pacing. Inora sent a worried glance to her husband.

"Take a deep breath, Kirie-san," Shikaru said calmly. "Why don't you feel as if you can go on?" he asked softly, his voice a calming monotone. The blonde patient sent a worried glance their way.

"It's this room... Too bright... the colours are just like in my dream and I... I can't do this... I can't do this here," the blonde said, her words running into each other. Inora and Shikaru shared a look. "Oh Kami, oh Kami, oh Kami," the blonde continued, repeating the words over and over. Sending a discreet nod in her husband's direction, Inora got up and put her palm on Kirie's shoulder.

"If you like, we can take you to the back room," Inora suggested, her caring green gaze landing on Kirie's frightened blue one. Kirie paused, then gave a jerky nod, wordlessly agreeing with the suggestion to change location.

Shikaru got up from his chair and moved to open the therapy room door. Inora led the distraught blonde out of the room, keeping a warm hand to her back, and carried her past the receptionist, who was engrossed in a novel. Shikaru moved ahead, opening the door to their private office and allowing the two women to precede him.

Once seated inside, the therapy session began again.

"About these dreams," Shikaru started. "Can you remember any of the details?" He held his pen at the ready. The blonde blinked rapidly, and then swallowed.

"Um... There was this room... like I said... and I step inside it, and there by a desk is this man... he has brown eyes that are open... staring at me... but I," her voice broke there, and she whimpered a little before continuing, "... but I know... I _know_ that he's dead because he... he has a bullet hole... right in the centre of his forehead... and there's blood... blood all over the wall behind him... so much blood..." Kirie stopped, visibly attempting to compose herself. Shikaru jotted down a few words on his notepad.

"Whenever you feel like you can continue, just go ahead, okay, Kirie?" the female therapist assured the patient. Kirie nodded and took a deep breath, continuing to describe her dream and what she thought had caused it.

"Then... then I look to the right of the man... and there is a woman on the ground... I can't really see her face, because she's... her blonde hair is all over her face... and it's soaked with blood and I... I can see the purple pumps on her feet... and the wedding ring on her hand... it's the same plain gold band that the man at the desk is wearing..." Kirie continued speaking, barely noticing Inora's uncomfortable glance at her purple pumps and gold wedding band.

"Can you remember any more details?" Shikaru asked, trying to figure out if there was more to this memory than Kirie might realize. The blonde nodded jerkily, sending a frightened look Shikaru's way. Licking her dry lips, Kirie fidgeted; hesitant to continue.

"I … I remember more, but you won't... you won't believe me," Kirie squeaked out, her eyebrows drawing together.

"Just try," Inora asked. "It was a dream, remember? We are just trying to know more. To know what we are dealing with," she stated gently.

"O-okay," Kirie managed, shifting a little in her seat and nervously playing with her hair. "The man, has long hair.. just like yours, Dr. Atsuga... and he... he looks a lot like you, and he's... Oh, Kami... he's wearing the same thing as you... and the woman... the woman is wearing the same thing as...Oh my god," Kirie breathed, sending a frightened glance at Inora.  
"They _are_ you guys," she whispered, shrinking into her chair. Shikaru sent a deadpan look discreetly at his wife. Yeah, right. Tired of playing games, and suspecting that something was off with this patient in particular, he put his notepad down on the desk, eyes flashing with remote signs of temper.

"What is it you're after?" he demanded in a cold voice. "Money? Some kind of sick thrills?"

The blonde paled at each angrily hissed accusation. Inora was slowly looking back and forth between the strange blonde and her husband's furious face.

"Y-you don't believe me?" the blonde patient gasped. "I knew it! I knew I should never have come," Kirie cried out, jumping to her feet and wrapping her arms around her own waist, hands disappearing into her open brown leather jacket. She moved towards the door and then paused. "That's why I knew I would have to convince you," she finished, turning around.

Shikaru's and Inora's eyes widened as they stared at their patient. All traces of distress faded into oblivion, the blonde stood before them, the gun in her hands pointed steadily in their direction.

_Oh shit._

* * *

**Amegakure no Sato**  
**Outskirts of the man city...**  
**10: 47 am**

"Oh shit," the man muttered whimpering when the long haired mafioso shoved the barrel of a Beretta into his neck. Swallowing thickly, Jin tried to stop the shaking in his knees.

"I-I keep t-telling you, that I don't know what you're talking ab-about." His teeth knocked together harshly stuttering his speech. The man behind the gun didn't seem at all amused.

"I've had from several sources that over the last few weeks, you've been spotted in the gambling district with a man who fits a description of one of the men who took my little brother." Itachi spoke each word slowly, as if saying them to a mentally challenged or slow child. He pressed the steel gun farther into the thick skin under Jin's pudgy chin.

"So talk," he warned, tone dripping with ice.

The man shook his head again desperately, looking almost as if he were going to cry. His fat cheeks were starting to color from where Itachi had hit him earlier.

"I'm telling you, man," he stammered, his watery blue eyes darting frantically around for a way to escape. "I don't know anything! I'm not stupid enough to touch your family, man," he continued over a broken sob. Jin really did not want to die. He looked to the tall man standing behind the Akatsuki member with the gun and pleaded with him to stop his partner. "Please, man... move the gun... I don't know anything!" he bleated.

Kisame sighed as he watched the scene from the sidelines. When Itachi had come to the bank this morning and said his mother and brother were missing, he'd offered to help search for both Sasuke and Mikoto-san. Since then, for the last few hours actually, they'd been searching high and low for any leads as to where Itachi's family was located. So far, though, none of the people they 'questioned' knew anything, and Kisame had a sinking feeling that Jin was being honest.

"Itachi..." he said slowly, warningly from behind his partner. Itachi paused, his usually expressionless face twisted in anger and a hint of desperation. With a sound - a loud sound in Itachi's case - of frustration, Itachi struck the man across the face with the butt of his gun.

* * *

**An Abandoned Warehouse**

Mikoto's head snapped to the side from the force of the blow she received from the gun in the masked man's hand. Sasuke whimpered behind the gag as his mother, the woman who'd birthed and raised him, spat blood from her mouth to the concrete. The room was dark, the sole fluorescent light hanging from the ceiling to cast a morbid spotlight on the display before him. He struggled futilely against his bonds; rope digging into and burning his skin. His heart pounded and his stomach felt queasy. He flinched when one of her attackers lashed out with one foot, slamming the toe of his work boot into Mikoto delicate ribs. Her scream rang out in the room, piercing Sasuke's heart; embedding the sound into his memory.

"Think you can avoid paying your debts, can you, Sasuke-chan?" the man with the gun jeered as he savagely punched Mikoto in the stomach, sending blood and spittle flying from her mouth as she gasped hoarsely in pain.

_Oh god. _

"Stop," he tried to beg from behind his gag, tears stinging his eyes. They didn't overflow down his cheeks yet, the salty liquid as frozen as his body. After he'd been taken the afternoon before, the kidnappers had put a dark bag over Sasuke's head, and locked in him a small cell... at least, he'd assumed it was a cell from the clanging sound that came as a result of the gate being locked.

"What did you say, Sasuke-chan, eh?" the masked man continued, backhanding Mikoto with such force her chair scooted backwards a couple inches, the sound of the metal scraping over the floor making Sasuke flinch. "Maybe I couldn't hear you over your mom screaming," he taunted, tapping his gun thoughtfully against his chin.

This morning, he'd been given a lukewarm sandwich and then gagged and blindfolded. Sasuke had heard the feminine cries echoing down the halls the entire time that he'd been dragged from his cell and to another location, and then when the bag had been lifted, he'd almost hurled up the sandwich he'd eaten.

His mother had been tied to a chair underneath a dim light, bound and gagged. Under the harsh light, his mother had looked thin and gaunt, large bruises marring her skin and chest. Her hair had been in disarray, and it was obvious that she'd been crying. Burns dotted her arms and shoulders; little red polka-dots on her pale skin. Her lips had been swollen and bleeding, and both her eyes had large purple bruises surrounding them. Her forehead had been bleeding from where they had struck her, the blood trailing down her left cheek and dripping off her chin.

Right now, the men were still beating his mother, striking her over and over and ignoring her cries and pleas for them to stop. Bloody saliva was dripping down her chin, and Sasuke's heart squeezed from the pitiable notion that his mother could not even wipe the spittle from her face. He struggled against his bonds, but they were far too tight for him to escape. He struggled to go to her, but the man behind him held him securely in place. He struggled to look away from the sight, at least; unable to take it it, but the man behind him held his face turned in her direction, and whispered a harsh promise to pluck out Sasuke's eyeballs if he dared close them. Sasuke did not doubt that he would follow through on his promise.

_Nothing I can do...powerless...pathetic...weak._

"Maybe you will know better than to fail to pay your debts, ne, Sasuke-chan," the man whispered hoarsely in Sasuke's ear. "Wouldn't want us to take your aunt next, would ya?" he taunted, his foul breath turning Sasuke's stomach.

And finally, Sasuke felt the first tear fall, cutting a path down his dirty cheek. After the first fell, another followed, then another, until his face was drenched and his shoulders shook with his sobs.

_Kami...mom...I'm sorry... _

Footsteps approached from behind. They sounded calm, composed, and as the broken man wept, he hated those footsteps. Yet even more than these men, he hated himself. It was all his fault. Their kidnapping, their being here, each blow his mother suffered; All of it. Every aspect of it. His sin.

_Forgive me...forgive me..._

The man holding him in place moved away, but Sasuke was couldn't move anyway, held in place by the shock of seeing his mother abused, and also his intense hatred for his kidnappers. The calm footsteps stopped directly behind Sasuke, and he could feel the blade of a knife scrape against his cheek for a moment.

"Hello, ne, Sasuke-chan," a new voice said, taunting Sasuke with the feminine honorific. This man's voice, in particular, made Sasuke's skin crawl. "You don't like seeing us beat on your mom, do you?" he asked slowly, sliding the blade of his knife almost in a caress on Sasuke's cheek. Sasuke didn't doubt the sharpness of the blade, so he held himself still. The masked man in front of him fisted Mikoto's hair in his hands and backhanded her again. Sasuke flinched at her pained whimper. Her eyes were currently swollen shut.

"I know you hate it, see," the man cajoled calmly, his manner scaring Sasuke more than the beating of his mother did. The man applied pressure on the blade, sliding it up Sasuke's cheek with enough force to break the skin. The knife slid easily through the cloth holding Sasuke's gag in place and an unseen hand pulled the saliva-soaked cloth from the Uchiha's mouth, dropping it to the floor with a faint 'plop'. Sasuke's eyes were glued to where the masked man was still slapping and punching his mother. Her body was now limp and unresponsive, and her cheeks so battered and bruised he could hardly recognize her anymore.

"I know you can't stand it. I know you want it to stop," the man said on a breath, gently tapping the flat of his sharp weapon on Sasuke's upper cheek so that with every movement, the tip of the blade brushed against Sasuke's long eyelashes. Sasuke's eyes widened as he focused on the silver of the blade directly in front of his left eye. "Now, listen very closely to what I am about to say..."

* * *

**Amegakure no Sato**  
**Dr. and Dr. Atsugas House of Healing**  
**11:05 am**

"Now, listen very closely to what I am about to say." Kirie's voice was steely and commanding. Her blue eyes flashed dangerously as she stared them down. She used her gun to wave Inora closer to Shikaru. The female therapist scuttled closer to her husband, her eyes narrowing and her hands clenching angrily.

"You two," Kirie gestured between them with the gun in her hand. On the outside she looked cool as a ice, even as the palm holding the gun became slippery with sweat. "You two are the biggest quacks I have ever seen," she snapped. "Therapists..." Kiries paused, shaking her head as she said the word. "I guess this must be how you keep your little information dealing gig legit," she mused, the gun in her hand not wavering for a second in its aim. "Call everything confidential while you trade your secrets, huh?"

Shikaru's eyes narrowed, and his fingers moved as he debated reaching for his own gun. Kirie's sharp eyes caught the movement, and she trained her weapon directly between the man's eyes.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Kirie ground out sharply. "What I would do, however, is start talking about Tayuya. I know you two have got your greasy little fingers on the information I need to have." Inora ground her teeth together and flashed her light blonde hair over her shoulder.

"And what makes you think we would do that?" she snapped her voice trembling with fury. Her eyes widened when Kirie flashed the shiny badge at her waist, previously hidden by her jacket.

"Because, Atsuga-san, regardless of how close you are to being on the other end of the law, I know you aren't stupid," Kirie continued. "Now, I have no intention of using this weapon on you, but I might be convinced to if you don't cooperate." Kirie's voice was hard and unyielding. "Now," she continued, directing the gun away from the faces of the therapists. "I want to know where Tayuya is gonna appear when she finally decides to crawl out of hiding."

Inora scowled, ready to tell their 'patient' to shove it up her ass, but shut her trap when her husband lifted a hand to silence her. Shikaru eyed the blonde woman for a few moments his fingers steepled and resting against his mouth as he contemplated his options.

"Alright," he said after a moment, his intelligent eyes trained on Kirie. His voice then took on a razor sharp edge as he said, "But here, _you_ play by _our _rules."

"In this house, we trade _information_. Tell us something that we want to know first, and we'll see what we have on Tayuya," Inora interjected, catching on to Shikaru's train of thought - it was a skill honed over time-, her blue eyes glittering sharply as she eyed Kirie.

"Alright," Kirie said, a small, hard smile pushing to her lips. "Fair enough." She uncocked her gun and resumed her seat, crossing her legs. However, she made a point to keep the gun in her hand, resting the side of the weapon on her knee; a warning to the information dealers not to try anything funny.

"My name is Haruno Sakura, and I work with ROOT," she supplied. That was definitely information those two should know. It would prevent them from trying to send someone to finish her off, because they would know that she would be looked for. She watched as Inora's lips thinned as she smiled slightly, the expression not reaching her eyes. Good. The message had been understood. Sakura then looked to Shikaru. His eyes never wavered, remained deadly serious. That one would be harder to intimidate.

"Also, I came across a lead that includes Tayuya over in Konohagakure. She's linked to a series of crimes that-" Sakura stopped speaking as a light of understanding lit both Inora's and Shikaru's eyes before they smothered it and resumed their blank gazes. Sakura chuckled. "Don't mess with me," she warned, cocking the gun again. "You know something. Talk."

Shikaru blew a breath out in a sigh.

"We don't know much. What we do know, or rather _who _we know, is someone who's able to tell you what you need," His eyes narrowed, but the next words were said evenly, with no emotion coloring his tone. "For the price of this name, you haven't given us enough payment. So you talk, and if _I_ hear something I like, _you_ get the name."

Sakura stared him down a bit, and was a bit disgruntled when the man across from her didn't back down an inch. Despite her irritation, the ROOT agent found herself impressed with the Info Broker's nerve. Nodding curtly, she leaned forward and began speaking.

They talked for a good hour, each party careful not to give too much, nor too little of what the other sought. In the end, both Sakura and Shikaru emerged from the discussion satisfied.

Inora, who had paced the room while the two talked, snapped once she sensed their business was concluded,"Alright you got what you need, so kindly get out of my house!"

* * *

**Amegakure no Sato**  
**2:15 pm**

"I keep tellin' ya, the boss isn't taking visitors. Now, git outta here." The man scowled at them around a fat cuban cigar that hung from his tobacco stained lips. The door was then promptly slammed in their faces. Itachi took this action rather stoically, but his partner, true to form, was, well...not so stoic. The Hoshigaki's left eye twitched in annoyance.

"Oi...'Tachi?" Kisame stared blankly at the door in disbelief, "Do I look like a cat to you?"

"..." Itachi didn't say anything, but instead turned on his heel and calmly walked back down the steps leading to the sidewalk below. Scowling viciously now, Kisame stalked after his partner, the absolute image of wounded pride.

"How dare they treat us like filthy strays? Do they _know _who I am?" the Hoshigaki thumped his chest proudly. "I am the_ famous_, _the '_Great White' loan shark, Hoshigaki Kisame. Men tremble in my wake and pale at my approach. So explain to me why _fatso _back there did neither."

"It's not him," Itachi said simply. "If Sansetsu was the one, he would have done it for a reason, and then would have invited me in to make his demands. Therefore he has nothing to fear, because he did nothing," Itachi explained tiredly, pressing his fingertips to his eyes. Kisame sent his partner a look of ultimate suffering.

"Itachi... you're totally missing the point of the matter. There was no tremble, not even a 'meep' of respect," Kisame grumbled grouchily, "Kids these days have no respect."

"He is a good actor, but his palms were sweating, and the thump after he slammed the door was him leaning against it," the Uchiha said plainly, remotely opening the car. "He was scared, just not a total idiot." Itachi walked around to his side of the car and opened the door.

Kisame visibly brightened at this notion, trotting to the passenger side door. "You really think... I mean, of course he was! No one is left standing in our wake." Kisame climbed in, grinning happily, as he slammed his car door shut. After a slight pause it seemed to sink in finally what Itachi had said. He sent a disturbed look towards the driver's seat.

"You know, Itachi... I think that's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me...are you going soft on me, Uchiha?"

"Shut up..." Itachi said, squelching a smile. His humor dipped southward, though, as he started the car and rested his palm on the steering wheel. "We are running out of people to question. I don't understand why anyone outside of Amegakure would touch my family," he mused, ignoring Kisame.

"Are you _sure_ you're not going soft on me Itachi...? Because I could swear that facial twitch thing you did just now almost resembled a smile." Itachi shot him a glare. "...Must've been my imagination. So...what do we do now? Where are we headed?"

Itachi sighed before responding, "We need more leads, but for now I need to prepare for the Masquerade Event. You're going to need a mask as well, I presume?" he asked, turning to Kisame a bit as they pulled away from the curb. Kisame, at this prompting, seemed to inflate impressively, a smug expression on his face.

"Nope." He declared it so casually that Itachi immediately had a bad feeling. His partner didn't _do _one-worded answers. It was far too simple for the bigger man's inner drama queen. Sure enough, the following silence was heavy with an expectancy of... something. Itachi blinked blankly, as the other man's face practically _begged _for the Uchiha to take the bait. Unfortunately for him, Kisame seemed to be forgetting who he was dealing with.

Turning back to the road, Itachi ignored the man, refusing to bite, choosing instead to smoothly pull the car into traffic with a simple, "Fine." It seemed this time, Itachi was the one who'd forgotten who _he _was dealing with.

Clearing his throat dramatically, Kisame prompted, "Don't you wanna know _why_?"

As he dead panned, his partner refused, "No." '_But you'll tell me anyway,_' the Uchiha thought. He was right.

Grinning hugely, The Hoshigaki continued as if his partner hadn't answered, "The man sitting next to you, none other than _the _Hoshigaki Kisame, is taking a personal day from work. Why, you ask?" Itachi hadn't, in fact asked, but knowing better than to encourage his partner, he remained silent and merely glided into the turn only lane at the next stop light.

"Because _I _have a hot date."

There was a long pause in which the only sound was of the clicking turn signal light. Then Itachi finally spoke.

"Lying's a sin."

Kisame puffed up again, though this time it wasn't from self satisfaction, as he glared sullenly at Itachi.

"Below the belt. I call foul play."

* * *

**Amegakure no Sato**  
**Amegakure Regency Hotel**  
**3:12 pm**

"I call foul play," Sakura said laughingly, holding her phone to her ear with her shoulder as she locked the hotel room door with her foot. "There is no _way_ you guys can hold an office party the _one_ time I am not there! This was planned," she complained, dropping her armful of plastic bags on the bed and placing her hand on her hip.

_"Now, now, sweet thing," _the sultry voice on the other end said. _"It's not to say we don't miss you greatly. I, for one, would have loved to see the hilariously hot outfit you would have worn,"_ Kiba continued. Sakura rolled her eyes and fingered the handle of the bag, inhaling the scent of the Amegakure takeout.

"Tell me again," she went on, lifting out a carton of stir-fried meat and vegetables. "How did you get my number, Kiba-san?" There was a pregnant pause over the line.

_"Ah... It came to me in a dream," _Kiba started, dropping his voice to one of mystery. _"There was a light, shining from the Heavens, and a voice like Kami himself saying, 'Kiba-san... Sakura-chan's number is...'... and then, your number was-"_

"Lies," Sakura stated firmly, dead-panning. Kiba sputtered from the other side of the line.

_"B-But Sakura-chan, I swear it was-"_

"Lies," she interrupted again, reaching back inside the bag for the pepper sauce. She took some chopsticks from the bag and snapped them apart as she sat at the edge of the bed. Shifting her phone to her other ear, while ignoring Kiba's claims that his dream was real, Sakura said, "One moment, Kiba."

_"Eh?" _Kiba asked, the same moment that Sakura said, "Itadakimasu."

"_Wait, Sakura-chan... you're eating?"_ Kiba asked. _"You're eating while talking to me on the phone? That's so sweet... showing a real comfort level with me there! So, can I get your address soon then?" _the Inuzuka asked, real hope in his voice as well as the hint of a smile.

"Maybe if you dream it up," Sakura said, grinning before she took a bite.

_"You wound me,"_ Kiba continued, gasping as if mortally wounded. _"By the way, what are you eating?"_ Sakura deadpanned.

"Why do you even want to know that?" Sakura asked, confused. She took another bite and a small moan escaped her. "So... good..." she muttered absently.

_"That is precisely the reason,"_ Kiba stated. _"Those sounds you make... I've never been more jealous of cooked food before. How I wish I could be to one to be loved by your sweet lip-" _Sakura hung up, throwing the phone to the bed and looking at it as if it had grown a head. What the hell was Kiba's deal? She scowled at the phone, her left eye twitching. It rang again.

"Agent Haruno," she answered before the Caller ID came up. Gross mistake.

_"To be loved by your sweet lips. Cherished by their softne-" _She hung up again. Contemplated throwing the device out the window... but changed her mind. The things could be damn expensive.

Sighing, Sakura finished the rest of her food in silence, glaring at the phone. She knew Kiba wasn't being serious when he said those things, but still. Sometimes the things he said... she wondered how he could _spout _such lines _even _as a joke...

Once finished, the pinkette disposed of her trash and, standing, went into the bathroom to disguise herself for Operation: Infiltrate.

_15 Minutes Later..._

Sakura eyed herself in the mirror, and gave herself a nod of approval. She'd donned a black wig cut in a stylishly uneven bob with heavy bangs - it was longer at the fronts than at the back - and expensive eyeliner - that she told herself was for the purposes of the mission, but she really knew better. She had put on a brand new white blouse that hugged her form impressively and paired it with crisp-looking grey pants that gave her a taller, more stately look. This she'd accessorized with a red beaded necklace and five-inch high red pumps.

She gave her head a sharp snap to watch the blunt ends of the haircut swing, and then bit her lower lip in momentary indecision. Deciding to add just a little more drama to the look, she used her liquid liner to give hers makeup a 'cat eye' effect, also darkening the line on the lower lid of her eye to give a much more defined look. Adding shiny, bold red lipstick, Sakura gave herself a small, satisfied grin. She looked nothing like herself. Which was perfect, of course. Before she forgot, Sakura put on a pair of grey contact lenses to give her stare a stronger, stonier effect.

Now she just needed to _be_ who she looked like. A smart, sophisticated woman, who wasn't afraid to take charge and give orders. The epitome of a bold businesswoman taking on the world one job at a time. Meeting the eyes in the mirror, Haruno Sakura was no more.

Welcome to the world, one Arisawa Akako.

* * *

**Raikage Auditorium **  
**5:12 pm**

Akako walked in, her strides long and confident with a briefcase in hand that she'd conveniently found on her unconscious predecessor. The same woman she had deposited in the back of the auditorium storeroom to sleep off the well...sleeping drug Akako had used on the woman to convince her to take a brief holiday. Nodding curtly to the security at the doors when they scrambled to open them for her, Akako breezed into the lobby and pulled off her sunglasses to survey her newest kingdom.

The place was pretty great all on its own, but with pursed lips, she decided it could be better. Shaking off the thoughts, Akako slipped the sunglasses in her coat pocket and went for the first order of business. The Caterer.

"You there! Where is the menu for the function?" Akako demanded sharply, catching the attention of several workers passing with collapsible tables.

"Uh... did you check Tawagawa-san?" one of them asked, eyeing her warily. Akako scowled.

"Tawagawa-san is not working here anymore. Is there _anyone else_ that can give me the existing menu?" she snapped, glaring at the young man. She watched him gulp nervously, Adam's apple bobbing in his throat.

"Uh... the catering team is over by where we are setting up the tables," he said, pointing in the direction. Akako spared him a haughty look before stalking over in the direction he'd indicated. She didn't miss the looks of masculine appreciation from the other men. Good. Looks of masculine appreciation generally mean that she'd get what she wanted.

"Arisawa Akako," she stated, approaching someone with an ID marking them as the Assistant Head Caterer and extending a hand. After a very brief handshake, Akako took back her hand. "Tawagawa-san has been dismissed. Bring me up to date," she said sharply. The female assistant blinked rapidly, apparently surprised and disoriented. Akako was beginning to get impatient.

"Today!" she snapped, tapping one red heel and glaring at the assistant. The assistant visibly jumped, very obviously trying to catch up.

"Uh..." she began, shaking her head as if to clear it. She handed Akako the menu, shuffling clumsily with the others in her hand. Some of the other caterers began edging away, as if afraid to get caught in the mighty Akako's wrath. Brushing a hand through her bangs in an arrogant gesture of impatience, Akako scowled as the assistant's clipboard fell from her hands.

* * *

**Amegakure no Sato**  
**Sako's Treasure Trove**  
**7:17 pm**

_Crash!_

Itachi turned to see a woman fumbling with some boxes that had dropped from a shelf. His eyes were involuntarily drawn to the rather well shaped rear end as she bent over and he-... Itachi spun back around, eyes narrowing. What was _wrong _with him? He was starting to believe that there must be something to what Kisame had been insinuating earlier... Was he getting soft?

First it had been the woman at the hotel, and now this one... He needed to get his mind off his anatomical preferences and onto how he was going to find his mother and brother. It had taken him a day to basically exhaust all the Amegakure-based people that he suspected would have had reason to take his family members. He was just about to successfully move on to more pressing subjects - or so he told himself, when the exact rear he'd been trying to forget bumped into the back of his legs, almost bowling him over. He knew this, because he looked.

"Uh, I am so sorry! Excuse me!" the female gushed, her head of bright pink hair still held down. Long, silky, and the color of spring cherry blossoms, the strands were escaping the cosmetic chopsticks she'd tried to tame them with, falling forward to brush her collar bone. That was precisely the reason Itachi's eyes were drawn to her chest, which was exposed due to her V-necked T-shirt. Or, so he told himself. His head tilted to the side as he inwardly pondered _why_ it was exactly that he liked her chest in particular. They weren't too big... or too small... they were, in fact... rather perfect.

"I really didn't mean to bump into you," the woman continued, her voice snapping Itachi back to his usual self. He scowled at his inappropriate behaviour. Kisame must be rubbing off on him after all these years. Vaguely Itachi made a mental note to endeavor to ignore his partner with more tenacity, for such behavior was...It was disgusting. "It's just these things are awfully hard to balance because they are so big!" the woman went on speaking, oblivious to his thoughts, and even ending her sentence with a delightful giggle. Itachi frowned lightly. Suddenly, every response that came to mind was mildly suggestive, so Itachi found himself in the peculiar position of not knowing what to say.

It was peculiar, because usually, he _chose_ not to speak. In this instance, however, he just _couldn't_. Instead, he knelt to help her pick up the fallen objects, all the while trying to convince himself that he wasn't really trying to catch a glimpse of her face. She kept her head down, however, crushing that possibility since he couldn't seem to find the words to say to make her look at him anyway. He thanked Kami that his partner, had 'refused' to accompany him on this shopping endeavor. For once his partner's childish attitude was working to his benefit, for if Kisame had been here... he'd have _never_ heard the end of it.

Shaking off his partner's imaginary voice plaguing his thoughts, Itachi hefted the boxes he'd gathered and stood, placing them carefully back on the shelf. His pink haired assaulter rose with him, brushing her hands off along the way and thanking him for his help.

It was when she shook back the stray strands out of her face, that he finally saw her for the first time. How could he describe it? Her face was normal enough. Big green eyes set in a face with smooth skin, pretty pink lips pulled back in a smile, with a forehead that was perhaps a bit wide, but still, it suited her.

Itachi cocked his head to the side as he clinically committed each feature to memory to go with the rest of her. Separately, each feature might seem normal, but put all together, it made her look breathtakingly gorgeous. What was it that made her so irresistible... that made him want her?

A bit off-put by the intense punch of attraction, Itachi blinked down at her, nodding absently when she asked if he was alright. She looked a little uncomfortable by his silence, and for the first time in an incredibly long time, Itachi wished that he was a bit more sociable. It passed after a moment, though, because he was _not_ getting soft. It must just be the situation with his family. That must be it. Despite his position as an Akatsuki, Itachi was rarely put in situations like this. Because people were usually too terrified of him to touch his family. He comforted himself with the feminine appreciation that lit her emerald eyes when she looked up at him.

The woman blinked disconcertedly for a short but awkward moment - awkward enough for Itachi to have to work to squelch the warmth of embarrassment crawling up his chest - and then she turned away from him.

"Ah... okay... that's good, then," she said breathily. "I'll just... go... over there," she muttered, her cheeks reddening slightly before she scooted slightly to the left to brush by him. As she did so he opened his mouth to say goodbye but stopped as, for some reason, something made her glance back up at him, a last shy parting glance that snared his attention. Just one glance and every aspect of his attention was focused on her. And he was rendered speechless. Again.

_'It's her eyes,'_ he thought absently. '_That's what pulled you to her'_. Blinking up at him, she flashed a small smile before flitting off to the other side of the store. With a bit of a start, Itachi realized belatedly that his heart rate was uncomfortably fast. He knew enough to know what that meant... but no one else was here, and no one else knew, so he didn't have to admit it, right? He thought this even as his eyes scanned the store for her unconsciously.

Reaching for a mask without really paying attention to the task anymore, Itachi headed off towards the register. Lost in thoughts about chance meetings, and strange women.

* * *

**Amegakure no Sato**  
**Shopping District - Jun's Health Food Store**  
**9:27 pm**

Sakura stared blankly at the items on the shelf, her mind sticking with surprising tenacity to the man from the costume store. His eyes had been so intense, even if he'd not said a word. That was surprising. They - men - usually at least said _something._ Sakura felt a small smile tip her lips when she thought about his features. 'Refined' was the word she would choose to describe him. He was also ridiculously good looking. And had an equally impressive body, all muscle tone and zero body fat. Her inner perv, yes, that one that she had to keep safely hidden from Kiba and Neji, was turned up to full power now, filling her head with thoughts... thoughts that she had to say were straying rather far from 'innocent'.

She giggled, swiping two packs of poppy seeds from the rack and dropping them into her basket. Akako's trip to the auditorium had yielded a lot of very useful information. Information she could use to her advantage on Saturday. This was a mission Sakura was determined to use to show her full potential. She was, after all, going solo. ROOT did not have much jurisdiction, if any, in Amegakure, even though the organization still had some pull. Trailing through the isles, Sakura spotted another important herb. Valerian root. She smiled, taking up the package and adding it to her basket.

Sakura grinned, thinking about the plan she had in mind and continued strolling through the isles. Her inner pervert still running rampant in her mind, Sakura found herself randomly giggling. A couple other shoppers sent her wary glances as she passed them, which only made her giggle more. Sakura reached the section of the store that displayed bottled herbs and spices and took up a small bottle of cinnamon, as well as a bottle of the essence of vanilla. The vanilla she sniffed before placing it into her basket, and, finding the scent a bit weak, she put it back and chose a stronger brand.

Glancing at the time, Sakura stifled a little shriek. She had two more stops to make and generally, all stores closed by eleven, so she ran to the cashier and hurriedly loaded her items onto the counter. The man behind the register, who she assumed to be Jun-san, was incredibly old, and gave her a wide, toothy smile. Sakura grinned back, until he took two years to cash her goods out. She felt her mood sprinting towards annoyance. What was with Amegakure and the slow service? Was it a culture? If so, she wanted to get out of here ASAP!

Two years older... okay fine, two _minutes_ older... Sakura stormed out of Jun's Health Food store and jogged to her car. She rested the groceries on the floor of the car and hopped in, locking the door behind her and driving off to the market, which was just about closed. Leaving the car running, Sakura jumped out and sprinted over to the shrimp and lobster salesman. The shrimp and lobster salesman who was packing up. NO, no, no!

"Uhh, hello!" she said cheerily, grinning at the man who turned to her, a look of decided annoyance on his face. "Can I just make a quick purchase? Just some prawns, please!" she begged, pleading at him with her eyes. The man looked like he was about to refuse, then he rolled his eyes.

"How many?"

* * *

**Amegakure no Sato**  
**Residential Area**  
**10:02 pm**

Fifteen. That's how many times Itachi seriously contemplated going back to the store and looking for his pink-haired freight train. The one that had nearly bowled him over. The one with the big green eyes that..._argh! _What was _wrong _with him? Itachi shook the thoughts of her away, sobering as he turned into the driveway to his mother's house. A heaviness settled around Itachi; he'd not been able to find a single clue.

There was one niggling thought bouncing around Itachi's mind, one unrelenting suspicion, but he tucked it away, because every time the thought came to the forefront of his mind, he got so angry... so unbelievably angry he did not know what he might be capable of doing. He parked in the driveway and remotely locked the car door after sliding out.

Itachi stalked to the front door and opened it, intent on poring over every document in the house to find some clue as to who had kidnapped his mother and brother, and why. He stalked inside, intent on finding said documents, but what he found was not what he'd intended to find at all.

What he found was his mother.

She was sprawled on the carpet, as if dumped there unceremoniously, in a pool of her own blood. Her face was battered almost beyond recognition, and her skin was bruised and burned, with long lacerations that Itachi knew only came from the application of a whip. He found himself running over to her and scooping her into his arms. The fear for her safety overrode the burning anger surging up in him.

"Okaa-san," he intoned, feeling immeasurable relief well up in him when she moaned. "Who did this to you?" he asked, pulling her against him. He didn't ask if she was okay, because, clearly, she wasn't.

"S-s-sasuke... f-find...S-sasuke..." she gasped on weak breaths, too weak to even open her eyes. Itachi felt his brows knit together, and fear grip his body. Never before had he felt fear like this. Fear for his mother's safety. Itachi reached for his phone, hurriedly typed '911' and sent the call.

"Okaa-san," he called again, desperately hoping she would stay alive; she was beaten up really badly. "Okaa-san, do you remember anything?"

"S...Sasuke..." she mumbled softly, and Itachi needed no doctor to tell him she was fading, and fast. "Sas..." was all she managed before she went completely limp in his arms. Itachi put his fingers to her neck, feeling the incredibly weak pulse beating there. It slowed dangerously, then stopped altogether.

Itachi felt a burning pain crash through his entire body, and for the first time since his father died when he was a child, the Uchiha cried. And then the anger pushed away the sadness, its dark presence stilling his grief, if only for a time. He knew who could help him.

It was time to go to Sunagakure.

* * *

**Amegakure no Sato**  
**Shopping District - The Health Drink**  
**10:25 pm**

The health _what _now? Shaking her head at the odd title, Sakura was about to walk inside when she noticed the sign. The sheer oddity of it stopped her in her tracks.

Sakura stared deadpan at the sign, and the sign stared right back. That's right. It. Stared. _Back. _The pinkette quickly walked away from the sign, disturbed with the googly eyes some kid had super glued onto it. Speaking of signs, and oddities, as she browsed up and down the aisles looking for the items on her list, Sakura began to find the store's name horribly ironic. For there was not a single bottle in the entire establishment, that held a liquid of any kind.

'_Huh'_, Sakura mused to herself, '_talk about irony.'_

Shaking her head to get rid of unproductive thoughts, Sakura reminded herself that she had to hurry before the store began to close. Hustling around the late night stragglers there to buy aspirin, Sakura arrived at the cosmetics aisle in record time. Pulling out the little piece of notepaper she had marked what she needed to buy of, the ROOT agent began to systematically work her way down the list.

Blush, mascara, manicure set and vaseline- thankfully all in one aisle - and, with a flourish Sakura checked them off her list. The pepper spray she found on an end display, and she took a moment to contemplate whether pepperspray counted against her no liquid medicine amusement. ..but, it wasn't something you would just drink, because...pepperspray couldn't be good for the body, right?

Knowing how picky she could be about her nail polish shades, Sakura passed up that part of the beauty aisle to leave for last, moving to the next item instead. Consulting her paper, she then looked up at the helpful labels hanging from the roof that listed what was down each isle. After that, finding the stuff on her list was a piece of cake.

Paper clips, and double sided tape, were found successfully on aisle seven. Which meant it was down to a battle of colors. Leaning over to scan the color choices, Sakura hummed and debated. Which was most 'Tayuya'?

* * *

**Sunagakure no Sato**  
**(The next day)**  
**4:17 am**

Red. The colour of his mother's blood on the carpet. The colour that refused to leave his mind.

It was also the color the man he'd driven tirelessly to visit was known for. Sasori of the Red Sand. Sasori, one of the many members of the Akatsuki, practiced a rather lucrative, though morbid business. He made the dead speak. Not literally, but with his analysis of them. He had a highly trained team of scientists - whom the the rest of the world jokingly referred to as 'puppets' - that aided him in his study of the human corpse _and_ the reasons that caused it to become one.

The man was talented, and had _somehow_ gotten permission from the top brass to take on work outside the organization. Sasori even worked with the Sunagakure police force and the ANBU, helping them to solve some of their harder cases. Sometimes, even cold cases were solved due to the skill of Sasori and his puppets. Itachi had called the man from before he left Amegakure, and had driven at breakneck speeds across the desert highway to get his mother's body all the way to Sunagakure.

Itachi pulled up outside Sasori's lab, stepping out of the car the same moment Sasori stepped out of the front doors.

"Are you alright?" the redhead asked his Akatsuki ally. The man before him had bags under his eyes and looked like hell. In all honesty the Akatsuki coroner had seen corpses who looked in better shape. Itachi opened his mouth to say he was fine, but bile and whatever food he had eaten the day before came out instead. Sasori did not comment but motioned for a miniature swarm of puppets to take Mikoto's gently wrapped body from the backseat of Itachi's car. He didn't touch or look at Itachi, knowing that this was not the way the Uchiha wanted to be seen, leaning over and heaving the way he currently was. So, he respectfully kept his eyes averted as he spoke to the dark haired man.

"I will get you some results in a few hours. Whatever can help you, but in return, you must eat and at least attempt to get some rest." With that said, he walked off in the direction of the lab.

* * *

**Sunagakure no Sato**  
**Red Sand Scientific and Medical Laboratory**  
**6:15 pm**

Itachi paced back and forth, albeit slowly, waiting for Sasori's mass spectrometer to print the results.

"Moving so much will not get the results any faster, Uchiha-senpai," Sasori said, his voice low and monotonous. He wasn't amused, or even annoyed, but was just stating a fact. Itachi stopped moving, knowing that Sasori was right. "This is very unlike you, Uchiha-senpai," the redhead commented further. "I will try to be as specific as possible in my analysis." His simple statement meant the world to Itachi. Even if it had come a step too late for his mother, the fact that Itachi finally had something solid to count on, to believe in, helped calm the turmoil in his heart. Even if it was only by a minuscule amount.

When all Sasori's results all came back, some two and a half hours later, the man lined up his puppets and had them read and analyze every bit of information to him. Every solid analysis, save one, that they came up with pulled Itachi even closer and closer to the suspicion that had been bothering him this whole time. The analysis that shocked him was Mikoto's drug abuse. The majority of the shock came at the notion that, after so much time doing what he did, Itachi had not picked up the signs, or he had ignored them.

However, the fibres they had found lodged in Mikoto's skin, the shape of the object used to smash her face so hard it fractured her skull in places, the residue of the cigarettes that had made the burn marks dotting her arms and chest, the soil found in her shoes and the bacteria from the air she had been in, all led to one conclusion.

"I don't know how to say this any other way, Uchiha-sama," Sasori said, upping the honorific attached to Itachi's surname because of the news he was about to bring. The scientist eyed the Uchiha uncomfortably, not believing he was about to say the actual words that encapsulated the entirety of the results.

"It appears your mother was killed by the Akatsuki."

* * *

**CLIFFIE! LMAO! Okay, so we needed to end on a cliffie, because this chapter was, admittedly, a little slow. However, in order to put the story in a way that you could follow it, without handing the plot to you on a silver platter, this chapter was necessary. Okay, so if you notice with Sakura, when she's in character,we use the character's name to give it that 'becoming the character' vibe. We hope that was not too confusing! Anyways, we slaved for ****_hours_**** to bring this to you, so PLEASE REWARD US! Hahaha! *on bended knee, here* Reviewers make us type faster!**


	4. Tayuya or Not Tayuya (Part 1)

**Never Turn Your Back**

**-****_A TayMor and Addicted-to-GazettE collaboration..._**

* * *

**Opening AN: Hi, Hi Everyone! We are soooo happy that you all seem to enjoy our story so far. :) Thanks a bundle to those of you who reviewed! Feedback really gives us the drive to write. Also, thank you for the follows and favorites! Knowing people like it so much tickles us pink. To a certain reviewer who enquired about Kisame-chan: He does indeed look human and will not be blue (apart from his hair which we are considering putting in that navy color), but we really haven't described him in full detail, so far. We'll be sure to slip in that description for you as soon as the opportunity arises. :D Now, onwards to Glory!**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Tayuya or not Tayuya? (Part One)**

_This scene was inspired by __**Disco Inferno **__by __**The Trammps**_

**Amegakure no Sato**  
**Jinchuuriki Auditorium**  
**9:30 pm**

The yellow light of the overhead street lights mingled with the reds, greens and whites of the traffic, forming a dazzling display on Itachi's shiny, custom-made black leather gentleman's shoes, as he stepped out of his silver convertible and into the streets of uptown Amegakure. He was directly across the street from the Raikage Auditorium whose grandiose front doors were gaping open, swallowing the influx of the upper upper crust patrons that had gathered from near and far for the Jinchuuriki Corporation's annual Masquerade Ball.

Itachi took in an imperceptible, but fortifying breath and tugged his fitted jacket closer around his slim body. He'd donned a cravat to hide the microphone taped to his chest, and was very conscious of the wires against his skin. Tonight was going to be excruciating, even for him, for several reasons. Firstly, he was actually going to have to _talk_ into the microphone tonight. Akatsuki never required this of its members, and this it would take a lot of adjustment. Secondly, he was going to have to find a way to satisfy the people on the other end of the earpiece in his ear without sending his old friend under the proverbial bus. Itachi's teeth ground together in annoyance as his mind took him to the moment that had put him in this position in the first place...

* * *

_A sound behind him had Itachi turning slowly, even though his guard was already up. His hand was already more than halfway towards his waist. He'd just returned from Sunagakure, and he was still in the mood to kill. His insides were roiling and he was just so _angry.

_Obsidian eyes met amber ones when Itachi turned. Something about the person set Itachi on edge. He'd seen the ANBU agent, Orochimaru, several times before when Deidara - an Akatsuki member who specialized in demolition - had gotten into scrapes after the exercise of his more arsonistic tendencies, and Orochimaru had always set him on edge. _

_"Uchiha-san," the ANBU agent said softly, a smile curving his wide lips. The man ran his inordinately long tongue over his upper lip, sending a shiver of disgust up Itachi's spine. Itachi kept his face straight, even though he wanted nothing more than to beat the man to a bloody pulp, even though Orochimaru had not yet done anything to him save annoy him._

_"Orochimaru-san," he returned. Obviously the man had a purpose for approaching him, and though Itachi had no desire to stand and listen to the man drivel on, it would sully his family name should he be anything less than polite. Agent Orochimaru took a step closer, his cat-like eyes glittering with interest. In what, Itachi was certainly not about to ask. _

_"I am looking for your brother. It seems he's dropped... off the radar," the ANBU agent said, his voice quiet in the evening air, but carrying with a vaguely snake-like hiss. Itachi frowned. What business did this man have with his brother? Itachi had his suspicions about the man, but he was not about to mention them until he was absolutely certain._

_"What business have you with my little brother?" he asked instead, turning to face the man fully. Agent Orochimaru smiled. _

_"Unless you haven't noticed, Uchiha-san, your brother has strayed a bit far from virtuousness," the agent said, taking another step closer to Itachi. Itachi stood his ground. He said nothing, waiting for the agent to elaborate._

_"Little Sasuke-chan is... shall we say, a 'person of interest'," Agent Orochimaru continued, his waist-length hair fluttering a little behind him in the evening breeze. Itachi was unsure of what 'a person of interest' was supposed to mean, but perhaps there was an upside to this. _

_"And you have come to me with this... for what reason?" Itachi asked slowly, perusing the man with sharp black eyes. The agent, to his credit, did not so much as flinch. Instead, he took yet another step closer to Itachi. _

_"I've come with … a proposition, of sorts," the agent said in reply, a sickeningly assured smile on his lips... which he promptly licked again, as if eyeing a particularly juicy tidbit. Itachi was almost tempted to take a step away from the inexplicably disgusting man in front him. Instead, he raised one dark brow and waited._

_"I have reason to believe that you might want to get into contact with... Tayuya," the man said, pausing for effect. It worked, because Itachi was not sure how it was possible that the man could know this. "I also have reason to believe that Tayuya will be attending a party this Saturday... and I have reason to believe that you are looking for your brother." Itachi levelled a blank look at the agent._

_"How is all this supposed to connect?" he asked, playing dumb, although he could already guess._

_"There is someone else at the party, which I am sure you already know about, that I need to have eyes on. If you can do that for me, as well as provide some other information about your little organization, I can use my considerable assets to locate your brother for you... even dropping his charges and presenting him to you," the agent offered, taking three bold steps closer to Itachi. _

_Itachi frowned as he internally processed the deal. It would be unwise to try to find Sasuke, who was supposedly captured by his own Akatsuki teammates, while he retained his position as an Akatsuki member... and it would be impossible to find him should his membership in the organization be revoked. At this point, it seemed that he had no choice. He had no choice, and the organization he'd been a part of for over ten years had betrayed him and disobeyed a cardinal rule: they had hurt the family of a member._

_"Who is this friend?" Itachi asked, showing, in his very slightly relaxed stance, that he'd accepted Agent Orochimaru's offer. The agent, obviously catching on to Itachi's acceptance, smiled widely again and ran a hand through his slightly windblown hair, swiping the strands away from his amber eyes._

_"Why, none other than the great Sarutobi Hiruzen."_

* * *

Itachi clenched his teeth at the thought of betraying his old friend, but he had a plan in mind. He ran a hand over the side of his head, smoothing his long hair, which was tied back loosely at his nape with a black hair tie. He was still skeptical about the whole thing. His mother dies, and not a day later the ANBU approaches him offering to help? The same ANBU that had been after his head for years? Black eyes narrowed. It seemed too convenient.

Making his way across the congested traffic in front of the auditorium with long purposeful strides, Itachi nodded to the men at the door with such self assurance that they didn't even try to stop him and check his invite. Besides, anyone who knew anything knew an Uchiha by a mere glance, and Uchihas were not denied access to anything; it would be bad for business.

Whatever skepticism he might be feeling though, over whether the ANBU had ulterior motives or not, Itachi had no proof to back his suspicions, and so he wasn't prepared to cut off a possibly fortuitous alliance. After all, Akatsuki seemed to be hiding way more than the Uchiha was ready to swallow and ignore.

So tonight, Itachi found himself in a peculiar position. He had to find and speak to Tayuya for Pein, while simultaneously spying on Hiruzen for Agent Orochimaru and keeping Hiruzen from _actually_ being caught by the ANBU. The old man was one of Itachi's favorite information dealers. The man always seemed to _know_ things, and usually had really helpful advice for the younger man.

To keep him leashed, for lack of a better word, Agent Orochimaru had put his techie, Kabuto, in Itachi's ear. As if the thought of the man had conjured him, the small metal piece crackled to life.

"Good to go?" Kabuto asked. Itachi scowled. Since Kabuto was speaking to him through an earpiece, he would be forced to respond verbally.

"Aa," he replied simply, the techie's cheer annoying him. The Uchiha felt like he had been given a glorified babysitter. The thought of having the annoying male jabbering away in his ear all night was enough to eat into the reserves of his patience. Brushing past the throng of people clustered at the front doors, Itachi put a hand to his mask before merging effortlessly into the crowd.

The sheer volume of people inside the auditorium was daunting, even for the usually stoic Uchiha. With everyone masked and costumed, shrouded in masses of netting and sinamay, how was he supposed to find Tayuya?

* * *

**Raikage Auditorium**  
**9:33 pm**

She'd found Tayuya.

Sipping on the bubbly champagne she'd gracefully nicked off a passing waiter, Sakura kept her hawk like eyes trained on the woman's location. Standing off in the outskirts, the pinkette had gone redhead for the duration of the party, happy to merely observe for now. The party was in full swing; ballroom tunes filtered through hidden speakers and into the crowded ballroom, mingling with the excited, multinational chatter. The tapestry of elaborate costumes was interrupted by plainly dressed waiters and waitresses that somehow managed to mill and weave like worms through the crowd, while keeping the glasses of club soda and spirits perfectly erect and avoiding spilling altogether.

Tayuya was, of course, in the midst of it all. The Otogakure native, usually overbearing and loud, was suspiciously quiet tonight. Sakura's eyes, brown now, under the effect of her contact lenses, narrowed as the thought occurred to her. For what reason would the woman not be herself? Sakura already knew that Tayuya had a feeling someone was on to her, based on what Atsuga Shikaru had told her, but Sakura had not expected the woman to behave so out of character just by the notion that someone was on her tail. Her fidgety behavior, and the way her brown eyes scanned the crowd with precision behind her venetian mask put Sakura herself on edge. Tayuya, it seemed, wasn't glancing about in a generally paranoid fashion, but was _looking _for someone.

Which brought Sakura to the conclusion that someone _special_ was on Tayuya's trail. Obviously, someone who _knew_ something important enough for Tayuya to want to hide. This didn't bode well for the disguised ROOT agent's original scheme of just tailing and eavesdropping on the Sound Syndicate female's conversations. Refusing to scowl, since it would bring her undue attention in this sort of setting, Sakura slid beside a taller gentleman instead, and kept her sharp eyes on the woman while rapidly sketching out a new plan.

The items in her clutch would have a totally new purpose now. Their effects would be the same, but their ultimate purpose would be altered. Sakura looked down at her dress, a corsetted knee-length black gown, strapless and fitted to hug her hips while flaring out in a slightly dramatic fluffy layered skirt to give her the advantage of free movement. It was also far too noticeable for her new plan to be viable. Sakura looked around, her mind reeling as she tried to think of a better alternative.

"Charming-sama, do you read me?" Sakura asked discreetly, the microphone taped to the inside of her cleavage picking up her softly spoken words.

"Loud and clear, Pumpkin," the deep voice of her partner answered in her ear, his tone sardonically amused. Sakura's eyebrow twitched at the use of 'Pumpkin', as that hadn't been their agreed upon codename, but since she couldn't complain without attracting unwanted attention, she let it slide.

"I have Tayuya in sight, but she's acting weird. I think she's hiding from someone," Sakura went on, trying not to let her partner's name for her bother her too much.

"Elaborate, please, _Pumpkin,_" he demanded, and Sakura could see his teasing grin in her mind's eye. Her eyebrow gave another twitch.

"She's acting all quiet," Sakura replied, edging away from the group she'd pretended to be a part of and circling the general area while still keeping Tayuya in her periphery. "I don't think we will get anything out of her this way."

"Damn," her partner muttered. "She's gonna be playing hooky all night then, ne? What do you have in mind?"

"Nothing at the m-"

A maid with a tray of champagne glasses brushed past her then, and Sakura felt a small smile tip her lips. She downed the rest of her champagne and rested the glass on the empty tray of yet another maid that weaved around her, going in the opposite direction.

"Scratch that," she chuckled. "I've got something up my sleeve. Change in plans, Charming-sama."

"Do I get to be in on this change?" 'Charming-sama' asked, the curiosity evident in his voice.

"I can't risk someone overhearing," she responded, partly to tease him, and partly because she really couldn't risk anyone hearing her plan.

"You're such a tease, Pumpkin-chan." The earpiece pouted back.

Seeing the first maid heading closer to the women's restrooms at the far left of the ballroom, Sakura stalked off in her direction, slipping between the people milling around, talking loudly and laughing, until she caught up with the maid, who had stopped to hand someone a glass of wine.

"Excuse me, please," Sakura said, tapping the maid on the shoulder. "I'm having a bit of a problem with my costume... could you give me some aid?" she asked, pulling a slightly distressed expression on her face. The maid's blue eyes widened, then she smiled.

"I'll help! I'll help! Me, pick me!"Charming-sama piped up in her earpiece. Sakura struggled to squelch a grin that rose up as a result.

"Of course, miss," the maid responded politely, and Sakura inwardly smiled at her good training. She edged in the direction of the restroom, motioning for the maid to follow.

"Thank you _so _much," she gushed in a hushed undertone as they walked. "I don't know why I allowed my _boyfriend_ to persuade me to wear a corset tonight. The laces are _much _too tight, and I was beginning to feel a bit light headed." The maid nodded sympathetically, her eyes flitting over Sakura's dress. Sakura pushed the door to the female restrooms open, and allowed the maid to enter first. She locked the door behind them and turned, her quick sharp gaze documenting everything in the restroom.

"Oh, oh, there is no _way_ I will forgive you for not letting me help! This 'boyfriend' thinks Pumpkin-chan needs a timeout for not playing nice with the other kids," Charming-sama complained from her earpiece. "To the naughty corner!" Sakura folded her lips to hide her smile, not even able to tell him to shut his trap for fear of blowing her cover.

The doors to the stalls were all pulled shut, but none of them had the little red 'occupied' marker indicating that any were in use, which meant the bathroom was empty, save one woman who was washing her hands and checking her eye-makeup simultaneously. Sakura sent a small smile the woman's way while inwardly willing the woman to get the hell out so she could advance her plan.

To the maid's credit, she caught on to Sakura's 'need for privacy' and merely rested her tray of beverages on the bathroom counter. The woman, obviously deeming her make-up okay, straightened, put her mask back on, and stalked from the restroom. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief - which, ironically, the maid copied - and locked the restroom door from the inside.

She presented her back to the maid, who stepped forward and began loosening the corset stays at the back of the dress. Immediately, Sakura felt her torso relax its ramrod straight posture, and took a deep breath when the dress loosened. She didn't have to feign her relief as she turned to face the maid.

"Oh, thank you _so_ much!" she gushed again, fanning her chest with a hand. The maid smiled and turned to pick back up her tray. "That is _soo_ much better! I can breathe again," Sakura added, feeling a bit playful, if a bit malicious, toward her absent partner.

"Yeah, yeah, rub it in!" Charming-sama complained again. "You said 'thin', not 'breathable'. Next time be more specific as to your waist size!"

"It's no pro-" the maid never finished her statement, because Sakura's swift, accurate fingers hit her neck, sending the maid into the darkness of unconsciousness. Sakura caught the girl easily before she hit the ground, and dragged her over to a stall. Luckily it was one of those overly posh affairs that afforded the two ample maneuvering space.

"I heard a thud. Why did I hear a thud?"

"Oh jeeze you jabber-mouth. I knocked the maid out so I could steal her uniform," Sakura hissed quietly, still worried about being overheard.

"Maid? You- you're going to steal a... Pictures! I demand pictures. I demand, I say, I demand!" Charming-sama sputtered over the line.

"You won't be getting any pictures," Sakura shot him down, grinning a little sadistically as she leaned the maid up against the side wall of the stall. "And if you don't start being a little less of a chatterbox, I'm going to conveniently lose my mic."

The other side went obediently silent, Charming-sama didn't want to be left out of the fun. His disgruntled silence was very _loud_, however.

Sakura shut the door behind them and swiftly unzipped the maid's uniform, pulling it down and lifting her feet out of it. She caught the girl, who'd slipped, and leaned her more firmly against the wall. When she had a better hold of the girl, she rested her on the toilet and removed her shoes. She didn't take the stockings, since she already had her own and didn't want to waste time. She just silently hoped that no one stared hard enough at her legs once back out amidst the guests that they noticed the high-end quality.

Sakura hurriedly undressed and pulled on the maid's uniform and shoes, which were both a bit of a tight fit, and folded her clothes neatly. Tucking her clothes in the neck of the maid's outfit, Sakura climbed on top of the toilet and hoisted herself up the wall of the bathroom stall. Peering over the top to ensure that no one was in the neighboring stall, Sakura clambered over the top and climbed down onto the top of the neighboring stall's toilet.

She rested her clothing on the toilet seat before locking the stall door, then climbed over into the next stall down. _This_ stall she exited, before heading over to the basins to wash her makeup off her face and smooth her hair into the maid's haircap. She took a glance behind her to ensure that the stalls with the maid and her clothing both had the 'occupied' tag on their locks, and then took up the maid's tray.

As the weight of the tray settled onto her palm, Sakura thanked the year she'd spent as a waitress during her first year of college. Balancing a tray was like riding a bicycle, so Sakura made sure to make two laps of the bathroom floor with the tray balanced on her hand making sure the 'feel' of it came back to her. Deeming herself ready, Sakura rested the tray back on the counter and reached for the purse she'd rested on the floor.

Bringing it to the counter, the ROOT agent opened it up and began transferring all her cosmetics out. She reached for a roll of two-sided fashion tape, which she had used to hold her strapless dress in place on her chest, and reeled off a strip long enough to go round her thigh. She stuck a tube of mascara to the tape, as well her lip-gloss. Digging back into her purse, Sakura took out her compact, opened it, and rested it on the ground. She pressed the heel of her newly acquired shoe onto the glass, cracking it down the centre. Satisfied that she was now prepared enough, she closed the compact and stuck it onto the sticky tape on her thigh. Sucking in a breath, Sakura lifted the tray back onto her palm. She was ready.

Now it was time to go find her target _again_.

* * *

**Raikage Auditorium**  
**9:45pm**

Tayuya. He couldn't find her. Having had no luck on the main floor Itachi had decided it would be prudent to look around the room and identify any area where he might have a better vantage point. As he climbed the stairs, the Uchiha had to admit the vantage was already improving. He could see everything. Running his formally gloved hand over the gilded banister, keen black eyes scanned the floor below from behind his elaborately decorated black and white mask.

The ballroom below was a large square room with two spiraling glass staircases that criss-crossed over the dance-floor and fed onto the semi-transparent balcony that rimmed the walls above the dance-floor. Above this, the ceiling of the ballroom was high and dome shaped, displaying an elaborate screen-like surface with bright zinging lights and patterns, spattering the people below with a kaleidoscope of color.

Itachi managed to get to the sparsely populated balcony and leaned on the stainless steel grooved railing, focusing his perusal on the people milling about on the floor below. It was almost impossible to make out any distinctive features on anyone, much less try to pick Tayuya out of the mass.

Itachi scanned the dance-floor again, and found to his frustration that the elaborate hairstyles, headpieces, masks and the garish makeup was making it impossible to spot anyone; even someone he knew specifically. He had to get up close and personal.

"Dude, you there?" Kabuto muttered over the earpiece. Itachi felt his scowl deepen. He'd been trying to forget the techie's presence.

"Aa," he said shortly in response, resting his glass of champagne on top of a clay stainless-steel sculpture.

"You keep freezing me out," the tech complained. "Do you have eyes on Hiruzen?" he asked, his voice grating on Itachi's nerves.

"No," Itachi lied, ignoring Kabuto's complaint. Hiruzen was actually several feet to his left. He moved down the staircase, scanning the crowd below with his intense black gaze. "I can't pick anyone out," he added, before Kabuto could ask any more questions. As soon as the words left his mouth, Itachi had to almost immediately swallow them. He just spotted something of interest. Unfortunately, it wasn't by any stretch of imagination female.

Two men dressed in black had just glided through the front door. Black eyes narrowed and a grunt left his lips without him meaning it too.

"What's wrong?" Kabuto's voice sharpened as he heard the tell-tale sound.

"A complication just arrived." Itachi murmured. "But it's nothing I can't handle." Itachi scowled, his eyes focusing on Hidan's perpetually slicked back silver hair and the very obvious scars on Kakuzu's lower face and neck.

Indeed two Akatsuki members attending would be a little problematic, but Hidan and Kakuzu were issues he'd dealt with before. Itachi had to admit, though, that he wished Kisame were here to handle the issue instead.

_Note to self: Kill irresponsible partner for ditching the mission to go skirt chasing._

* * *

**Raikage Auditorium**  
**10:00pm**

When she came to a rather tight squeeze in between a group of guests, Sakura was quite glad her skirts were no longer so cumbersome and fluffy. Sakura had to handle the issue of finding Tayuya again, and fluffy skirts would have impeded that considerably. Sakura slipped out of the restrooms and sent a quick glance around her. Deeming the situation to be as she had left it, Sakura stepped out into the throng of people. She milled and weaved through the party-goers, her keen eyes looking out for Tayuya.

"Can you find her again?" Charming-sama asked from in her earpiece, clearly forgetting his vow of silence. "I mean... we wouldn't want your elaborate new plan to get steamrolled by-"

"I see her," Sakura interrupted, spotting Tayuya's flash of red hair and elaborate feathered mask. She was thankful that Tayuya had not moved far from where she's spotted her earlier, which mean that finding her had been easier than expected. If Sakura had not been as skilled visually as she was, it would have been a much harder job. Also, she'd mapped out the entire place in her mindscape from her previous visit as Akako, and knew the places Tayuya preferred to loiter around.

"You're too good at this," Charming-sama groused. "What are you even bad at?" There were too many things, the way Sakura saw it. It also wouldn't do to let people know what her weak areas were.

"A girl never tells her secrets," she said vaguely instead. Her faults were so complex, she had to plan her actions beforehand so she didn't send her mission to its untimely demise. Planning properly to cover her ass always paid off. Not to mention it made her look flawless when it was in fact the opposite.

Now, how was she supposed to distract Tayuya? Sakura milled around the general area, keeping Tayuya in her sights, and nibbling the inside of her lower lip.

"Any ideas on how to distract her?" Sakura asked Charming-sama. She sent a gentleman a smile as he took a glass from her tray, trying to ignore the lecherous way in which his eyes raked over her.

"Uh... I'm not helping you. You're denying me my maid-photos," Charming-sama said childishly. He wasn't worried about denying her the help. Sakura could imagine him folding his arms and looking down at her. She raised one brow. He was right, in a sense. She _was_ capable enough on her own.

"Fine," she said. "I have a plan anyway." She didn't have a plan.

"Oh really?" Charming-sama asked, his tone clearly disbelieving. "Spill." Sakura sputtered for a short moment, doing her best not to blush. It was a damnable habit of hers that she couldn't outright lie without blushing. It was why she usually stuck to half truths. Thanking god he couldn't see her through the transmitter, Sakura desperately cast about for something usable.

"I am going to... use... the resources I have... which are..." Her voice lowered over the vague statement as inspiration struck her. "Which are the guests." Now walking with purpose, Sakura moved to a gentleman in his late twenties who was looking around with a bit of a lost expression in his eyes.

"What are you thinking? I'm lost, Pumpkin-chan," Charming-sama stated before adding bluntly, "You know, you really suck at being my eyes."

"Excuse me, sir," Sakura said politely to the man, ignoring Charming-sama's complaints. The man turned his gaze to her, blinking expectantly. Reaching up, Sakura handed him a glass of champagne and smiled. "That woman over there, with the red hair and the feathered mask sent this over for you," she said, motioning over at Tayuya - who was standing by one of the food tables - with her chin and eyes. The man smiled gratefully, took the drink and headed over in Tayuya's direction. Sakura waited until he was close to her before she followed him, keeping out of sight.

She circled around as she got closer to Tayuya, ensuring that she was behind Tayuya when she turned to talk to the man. Sakura could see from the woman's jerky movements and the man's confused stance that she only had a short time to carry out her plan. She moved over to the other side of the table, and slid her hand into Tayuya's purse, which was resting on the table. She was pulling out the woman's compact when someone bumped into her from behind, which made her hand jerk, sending the woman's purse clattering to the floor. Its contents spilled out in hapless disarray underneath the table.

"You bumbling idiot!" Tayuya snapped, spinning round. Obviously already annoyed by being approached by some random man, Tayuya's eyes blazed angrily. "What the hell do you think you are doing?"

Sakura paled. _'Shit!'_

* * *

**Raikage Auditorium**  
**10:12 pm**

The pale light gleamed off the banister as Itachi spotted a disturbance below. A panicking red haired maid was fumbling to pick up the contents of a purse that lay scattered on the floor. However it wasn't _that _red head that caught his attention. It was the one in the royal purple ball gown who stood over the embarrassed servant reaming the girl for her mistake.

"I found the target." he muttered in an undertone, as much in triumph to himself as in report to Kabuto on the other line. As far as the former mafioso was concerned it didn't matter that it was the so-called wrong target. Turning on his heel, the Uchiha began to move in.

It seemed fate though, wasn't through playing its games.

"Itachi-san!" Itachi paused as he heard his name hailed over the conversation of the guests. Not a short man in stature Itachi was easily able to spot the one person he'd hoped to avoid this night.

_Hiruzen._

Careful to keep his expression neutral, he turned and damning his luck to the devil, waited as his elderly friend worked through the crowd toward him.

* * *

**Raikage Auditorium**  
**10: 14 pm**

Sakura blinked dumbly for a moment, before auto-pilot kicked in. She bowed her head subserviently, and began acting as flustered as she felt. Damn it!

"Oi, you alright?" Charming-sama's voice had lost all its teasing quality, even dropping the favored nickname of the night, as he worried over her well being.

Too flustered, and it being too risky to answer, Sakura ignored the rapidly fired questions in her ear, thinking frantically how to fix her blunder. "I am so sorry! I bounced the purse when-"

"You were stealing, you little rat," Tayuya snapped. "Pick them all up! You had better not have broken anything in there," she continued. Eyes were being drawn to the spectacle.

"I'm so sorry, miss! I couldn't help it!" Sakura went on, hiding her face as she scrambled over the floor on all fours, dodging the feet of passing people. When she got to the ones under the table, she quickly switched the compact on the floor with the one taped to her leg. Shoving everything back in the bag under Tayuya's shrewish perusal, Sakura handed the purse back to the woman, bowing and muttering apologies as she went.

"I should have you pay for this," Tayuya ranted. Sakura's eyes sharpened at the word 'pay'. Her luck had turned. Thinking quickly, she bowed again.

"Miss, if I may," she said quietly, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. "I would like to try and pay somehow." She snuck a glance up and saw that Tayuya's eyes had narrowed in expectation, and the woman had quieted somewhat.

"I... I heard that... that your favorite scent was cinnamon... and I happen to have the new prototype cinnamon lip balm from Senbon Cosmetics..." Sakura paused for effect, bowing again to cover her action of reaching for the lip balm stuck to her thigh. The people gathered around to view the spectacle began muttering, some of them commending Sakura's apparent humility and kindness.

Tayuya stuck out a hand, still glaring at Sakura. Sakura hurriedly placed the lip balm on the woman's palm and looked at her with hopeful eyes. Tayuya popped the top of the lip balm and sniffed, a smile creeping up as the strong smell of cinnamon wafted from the cosmetic item's casing.

"This is good. Strong scent; I like that," Tayuya murmured. "Have you used it before?" she demanded, chocolate brown eyes flashing to Sakura's face. Not wanting to be seen as a liar and have her cover blown, Sakura blushed.

"I... only once, miss," she said softly. "I got it as a present from... my fiance," she stuttered. Charming-sama sputtered at that, but Sakura kept up the act. Tayuya smiled approvingly, reaching for a napkin. She wiped at the top of the lip-balm container as if wiping away every trace of Sakura. She sent a glance around at the people all looking at her expectantly.

Realizing that they wanted to see her actually _try_ the gift, Tayuya scowled a bit, then wiped a generous portion over her lips. Sakura bowed again, and then scuttled off, relieved to have somehow pulled off yet another miracle.

Almost as if sensing the dire situation, Charming-sama had fallen silent throughout the scene. After the silence stretched out a few beats, he cleared his throat.

"So...Fiance...Seems I'm moving up in the world rather quickly tonight." She could practically hear the eyebrow wiggling in his voice, and Sakura giggled despite herself. The crisis had been averted and her partner's jests had helped drive away what was left of the storm cloud hanging over her head. As he'd probably intended, the sly dog.

"All without ever getting to first base," she quipped back in a whisper, causing Charming-sama to burst out laughing.

During his merriment, Sakura watched from a distance as the red-headed diva slapped a hand over her lips and began to dig through her purse for her compact. Sakura could sense the woman's frustration when she saw the cracked mirror. Tayuya stuffed the compact back in her purse then started, covertly and with grace _of course_, to make her way to the bathroom in a rush.

Sakura own lips pulled back in a devious smile. "Speaking of, I think I just hit a homerun."

* * *

**Raikage Auditorium**  
**10: 26 pm**

_Let the games begin. _

"Sarutobi-san," Itachi said, giving the older man a small smile. Hiruzen stopped in front him, a grin on his wizened face.

"Good to see you here," Hiruzen said. "I meant to ask you," he started, drawing closer. Itachi discreetly ran a fingertip over the shell of his ear. Hiruzen sent him a grateful smile before continuing. "How is your aunt Nina?" the old man asked randomly. Itachi was grateful the man didn't ask about his grandmother.

"She is well," Itachi returned. Hiruzen's face went serious and he pulled Itachi over to a younger man whom Itachi recognized as Hiruzen's grandson, Konohamaru.

"I meant to introduce you to my good friend Setsu," the old man went on, his voice cheerful despite his serious expression. "He's deaf, but I convinced his doctors to let him out... let him live a little." Itachi knew Konohamaru was not deaf, so his eyes dropped to Hiruzen's hands, which began signing rapidly.

["I think the ANBU are onto me."] Hiruzen signed. Itachi blinked.

["They are."] he signed back. ["I have one in my ear. Sasuke's missing, and they're helping me find him."] Hiruzen's eyes sharpened at that.

["Do you know who has him?"] the old man asked, his fingers moving rapidly. Itachi nodded.

["Akatsuki."] he signed back, his eyes cold as steel.

["I'll keep that under my hat and see what I can find out."] Hiruzen responded. ["See if you can keep those ANBU off my trail."] Itachi smiled.

[Already doing that."] he replied.

"I'm sorry to run off so soon, Itachi-san, but I see someone I really must have a word with," Hiruzen said, turning to go.

"It was a pleasure as always, Sarutobi-san," Itachi said. As soon as Hiruzen had gone, Kabuto piped up again.

"What are you doing Itachi-san?" he asked, his voice a hiss. "You found out absolutely nothing!"

"He was too busy. And this place is too public," he hedged, trying to throw Kabuto off course. "We can't afford to garner suspicion at this stage." He needed to find Tayuya, _now._

* * *

**Raikage Auditorium**  
**10:33 pm**

Now, all she had to do was follow the Diva and execute the rest of her plan.

Sakura slipped through the crowd, weaving effortlessly towards the restrooms. Inside, she could hear Tayuya muttering and grumbling. Spotting a maid approaching, Sakura glanced from the restroom door to the maid and back again. If she went inside, Tayuya would recognize her. If she didn't, the last and most important step of phase two of her altered plan would not be carried out. Making a snap decision, Sakura discreetly pulled her mascara tube from her leg and called the maid over. With a little inventive slight-of-hand she poured the clear contents of the tube of mascara into a glass of champagne undetected, and motioned the maid closer.

"Come here," she whispered, beckoning the maid closer. The girl hurried over, a concerned expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" she asked, catching on to Sakura's urgency.

"My sister-in-law," Sakura muttered, motioning to the restroom. "She's having an allergic reaction... but she hates me. Take this glass of champagne and tell her that her friend sent the drink with her medication in it already... she won't take it if she knows it's me... but she might die if she doesn't," Sakura said, managing to look as distressed as possible glad that the tell-tale pink in her cheeks would be attributed to worry and fluster rather than a lie.

"Okay," the maid said, nodding. Her eyes wide and frantic, she took the glass and pushed into the bathroom. Sakura could hear sound of them conversing, and then the maid hurried back outside.

"Did she drink it all?" Sakura asked, her tone urgent and flustered. The maid nodded.

"I think it's working. She immediately looked calmer," she said, giving Sakura a relieved smile, which Sakura mirrored. Sakura clasped the girl's hands in her own.

"You're an _Angel_! My brother would be so distraught if something had happened to her!" Sakura looked up and scanned the ballroom. "Can you cover for me if someone asks about me?" Sakura asked. "I need to see how she's doing now that she's calmer." The maid gave her a nod and scurried off, just before there was a thump from inside the restroom.

Having heard the whole conversation through the wires, her partner piped up sounding vastly amused, "Now what, Pumpkin-chan? Gonna wave that magic wand?"

"I already have," Sakura let a devious smile pull at her lips, "Now my Prince Charming, Cinderella makes her debut. Let the magic begin."

* * *

**So, will Sakura be able to perform her trick, or will she turn back into Pumpkin-chan at midnight? ;) Oho! So we had to break the chapter, but the new part should be out very soon, we promise! This is probably one of the most important chapters in the story, as things begin to move faster after this. Strap in, and don't forget to review! (^_^) Reviews make us type faster!**


	5. Tayuya or Not Tayuya (Part 2)

**Never Turn Your Back**

-_A TayMor and Addicted-to-GazettE collaboration..._

* * *

**AAHH! We love you guys! Kyaaa! Reviews! *too excited to speak, so give us a moment to compose ourselves...ahem* So... you're all wonderful, so wonderful, for reviewing! :D We always love hearing from our readers especially those that seem to be following the plot! We didn't mean to take this long to update, but illnesses, computer crashes, and unplanned occurrences kept us away from this chapter! *pouts a little* Anyway, we are glad you love Sakura and her plan so far... let's see how ya like the rest of it! *winks* Onward to Glory!**

* * *

**Chapter Four: Tayuya or Not Tayuya (Part 2)**

**Previously on NTYB...**

_"You're an Angel! My brother would be so distraught if something had happened to her!" Sakura looked up and scanned the ballroom. "Can you cover for me if someone asks about me?" Sakura asked. "I need to see how she's doing now that she's calmer." The maid gave her a nod and scurried off, just before there was a thump from inside the restroom._

_Having heard the whole conversation through the wires, her partner piped up sounding vastly amused, "Now what, Pumpkin-chan? Gonna wave that magic wand?"_

_"I already have," Sakura let a devious smile pull at her lips, "Now my Prince Charming, Cinderella makes her debut. Let the magic begin."_

* * *

**Amegakure no Sato**  
**Raikage Auditorium**  
**10:44 pm**

It was like magic, Tayuya's appearance tonight. He'd yet to see her in her evening wear, having left for business early this morning and arriving at the party late. So to say his first sight of her took his breath away was an understatement. She was stunning. Kimimaro felt his mouth go dry as he watched her descend from the balcony with slow, measured steps... like she knew he was watching. He felt his eyelids moving slowly, as if the entire vision of her was moving in slow motion.

Her dress was beautiful, even more so because of her shapely physique. A collar with a double row of purple stones with a purple mesh insert between the rows lay flat on her upper chest and shoulders. Beneath that was a form-fitting bodice with a mesh piece under her arms. The dress was a work of art, a testament to the small fortune he'd shelled out for it. It hugged her hips, then flared out in a bountiful plethora of feathers. Though her face was hidden by a mask, her trademark red hair was like a beacon to him, softly curled to rest on her shoulders, its sheen taking on the reflections from the lights overhead.

Kimimaro had not even realized how close she was to him until her glossed lips turned up at the corners in a confident smile. And then she was sliding into his arms, her hands smoothing over his shoulders.

"Konbanwa, Kimimaro-kun," she said, her usually brash voice low and husky. It was the stuff of dreams. Of visions. Of the masculine version of a fairy-tale.

* * *

**Raikage Auditorium**  
**10:53pm**

"This fairy-tale isn't panning out like I'd hoped..." Charming-sama groused in Sakura's earpiece. "It's the worst, I say. _The _worst. Fairytale. Ever." He sounded genuinely perturbed, and if Sakura wasn't wrapped in the arms of Tayuya's lover in the middle of a crowded dance floor, dressed as said woman, Sakura would have laughed.

"Why is Cinderella wrapped in some other dude's arms, dancing the night away? What about Charming-sama, you adulteress?" He complained, his voice sounding oddly muffled as if he had something blocking his speech. "What does your faithful prince get? Babysitting duty, a bucket of fried chicken, and cheap third party thrills. My inner child has been slapped in the face by harsh reality. Nice guys always finish last - You know I punched the last person that said that to me," he added offhand, "Now, I feel like he's getting his revenge by rubbing salt in my maidless wounds."

Sakura bit the inside of her lip, thankful that her cheek was pressed to Kimimaro-sama's chest because that way he couldn't see her grin. Charming-sama was a remarkably talkative partner, one she would have been able to enjoy more had she been permitted to respond. She should have known better though, than to agree to the wire tap. He was really killing her with his narrations. Luckily she was distracted when a deep voice rumbled pleasantly under her ear.

"You're being quiet tonight," Kimimaro said suddenly, his voice low and smooth... and dare she say, pleased. "After that minor debacle with the maid, I thought I would have to take you to see Otou-san," the pale haired man continued, his slightly icy tone revealing a barely veiled threat. Instinctively, Sakura stiffened her spine.

"She was _stealing,_" she hissed softly, hoping she could capture Tayuya's tone, but muffling her voice so any differences would be somewhat concealed. "What was I supposed to do? Let her get away with it?"

"Causing a scene with the help, and drawing undue attention to yourself is mindless and stupid, especially on a night like tonight. Be more careful from now on, hmm?" His voice was even, a carefully controlled baritone that almost seemed to drip tendrils of frost off every word.

Trying to think of a way to disarm the situation, Sakura hastily tried to come up with a 'Tayuya' retort. Finally she decided to take a leaf out of Charming-sama's book- hoping that she hadn't completely read her dance partners body language wrong. Pressing closer and hoping she wasn't blowing her cover, Sakura spoke.

"You seem awfully keen on defending that maid, _dearest_. Should I step aside and let her take my man, too? She already had her hands in my purse, so why stop there?" Sakura hissed with carefully contrived venom lacing her tone. To her surprise, Kimimaro chuckled lightly.

She ignored the choking sounds coming from the earpiece embedded in her ear, that sounded suspiciously like 'Hypocrite!'. Kimimaro's hand ran consolingly down her bare back left exposed by the deep V cut at the back of her dress, that warm palm moved with aching slowness halting just shy of propriety, fingers brushing dangerously close to her derrière. As shivers followed the motion, Sakura was a little ashamed that it wasn't disgust that had gooseflesh breaking out along her bare arms. It was a very telling action. It seemed she hadn't been wrong in her assumption that he and Tayuya had a thing for each other. The action all but branded her as 'Mine'.

Awareness floated along her consciousness that this was a tall, wealthy and extremely attractive male currently holding her captive in his embrace. Kimimaro was hot...she couldn't be blamed for a normal feminine reaction...right? Charming-sama thought otherwise.

"His hand is on your butt, isn't it?" he accused, tone morally offended, "You charlatan!" he ranted in her earpiece. "You wanton wench!" Instead of listening to Charming-sama's rantings, Sakura focused on portraying Tayuya. She relaxed against Kimimaro.

"I suppose you are like all men," she pouted, her painted lips taking on the look of a dejected, jealous lover. "You probably wouldn't _mind_ having more than one woman to fawn over you." Kimimaro laughed softly at her, foregoing all propriety and giving her rear a squeeze. His hand had moved from her waist in one smooth motion and Sakura almost jumped, a squeak of surprise leaving her throat.

"You give me all the fawning I need," Kimimaro whispered in Sakura's ear. Sakura gulped at his smooth, suggestive tone.

"...My third wheel senses are tingling. Get a room already." Charming-sama booed before he heard the small sound of unintentional enjoyment Sakura made in her throat when Kimimaro whispered in her ear. "NO! Don't get a room! I joke, I joke! I kid, I kid! I spoke in jest," her partner said hurriedly having caught the gist of what the other man was insinuating. Sakura cleared her throat. She had to stay focused.

"So..." Sakura started, smoothing her hands affectionately - she was enjoying her role as Tayuya far more than she should - over the front of Kimimaro's expansive chest. "Which of our 'friends' have you seen so far?" Kimimaro's hands slid back up to her waist as he pulled her closer.

"Well, I spotted Uchiha Itachi a while back, but he was on the other side of the room talking with Sarutobi Hiruzen," Kimimaro responded, one hand sliding to her hip and the other moving up and down her back. Sakura shivered - and considering he was the enemy - for all the _wrong reasons._ Did this man have a problem with keeping his hands in one place?

* * *

**Raikage Auditorium**  
**11:02 pm**

Kimimaro was having a problem keeping his hands in one place. Tayuya's dress for the night encouraged them to explore, what with that almost completely open back edged with fine purple mesh. Despite how completely sexy she looked, she still managed to pull off a level of class that made his chest expand a bit with pride. He wasn't at all surprised. After all for her rather dramatic and sometimes caustic personality, he'd always admired and been impressed by Tayuya's class... at least clothing-wise, since verbally she could be tasteless more often than not. What confused him wasn't her dress choice in the least.

The thing that baffled him a little was how she felt in his arms tonight. She didn't usually feel... like this...at all. _This _Tayuya he couldn't seem to keep his hands off. Something about the mannerisms... She was still the same personality-wise, but... there was just something irresistible about her tonight. Actually, despite her normal sharp tone, she seemed almost like a different woman altogether in some aspects. When she'd stepped closer and blatantly showed her jealousy just a few moments ago Kimimaro's eyebrow had shot up. Tayuya wasn't one to admit her feelings openly. She was also being extremely affectionate tonight, while normally she would have balked at the display they were making. Not that he was complaining. It was a rather...enchanting change in his normally aloof lover. Almost endearing in fact. When she shivered in his arms and fluttered those lashes behind her mask, Kimimaro smiled slightly in a show of masculine pride. No he didn't mind the change at_ all_.

"Uchiha Itachi? Why would he be here? He... he can't _know,_ can he?" Tayuya asked, her hand sliding round his waist. Kimimaro dropped his face to her neck and inhaled her scent. For once she didn't smell like cinnamon. It was a softer smell, slightly floral with a hint of mystery. Almost like cherry blossoms.

"Most likely he has an inkling. Stay out of his way," Kimimaro said, his hands sliding over the smooth, soft skin of her back once more. She shuddered a little in his arms. It was getting late. Maybe they should leave? Considering how unusually aware she seemed to be of him tonight, this prospect was looking more wonderful by the second. His lips curved against the skin of her neck.

"D-did you see anyone else?" Tayuya asked, resting her forehead against his chest. Was it just him, or did she seem a little shorter tonight? He liked whatever it was that was different. If only he could figure it out.

"Well, I saw Hidan and Kakuzu..." Kimimaro started, gauging Tayuya's reaction. He had his suspicions that she might be … involved with Kakuzu... but he wasn't sure. He had sources that had seen them exit a hotel room on one occasion, and the thought irked him, but more so tonight than any other night. As he had predicted, Tayuya stiffened slightly in his arms.

"Hidan and Kakuzu? Why would they be here?" her voice shook slightly with nerves before she managed to control it, and Kimimaro felt jealousy curl in his gut like he'd just been punched. How odd. Usually he was more amused by her childish games than anything else. His hand tightened warningly on her waist, before they moved to more polite locations, disgusted that some other man had touched the same woman he'd been seducing not moments before.

"Maybe _you_ like some extra fawning yourself," he hissed darkly. She stepped away from him, her brown eyes flashing angrily. Hmm... her eyes seemed a darker chocolate tonight.

"How dare you even suggest that? As if I would speak to him!" She sounded so... affronted, that Kimimaro felt the jealous heat in his gut subside somewhat, but still... His guard was up. Glass green eyes turned cold and his smile was not the least bit flirtatious now. In fact it was more of a sneer.

"Which _him _do you refer to? I suppose you mean Kakuzu, ne, Tayuya? Don't bother to deny it. You were seen together and we both know how you like to play your games." His hand tightened further before falling away from her coldly. "Maybe he didn't get enough the last time-" There was a sharp report as Tayuya's palm connected with his cheek.

"You impossible cretin," she snapped, nibbling her lower lip. "How dare you even hint at infidelity, when you _know _you're all I want." She turned away from him, starting to move away from him. Kimimaro felt satisfaction settle within his chest, and he reached for her arm.

"Tayuya..." This time, she tugged her arm away from him.

"Uchiha will be looking for us. If he sees us together, he will be able to identify me... so maybe it's best that we stay apart for awhile," she said uncharacteristically softly, and floated away from him. Kimimaro stood rooted to the spot, the knowledge that he couldn't call out to her frustrating him more than he could define.

* * *

**Raikage Auditorium**  
**11: 15 pm**

Itachi was getting more _annoyed_ than he could define. He'd been here for hours and he still hadn't been able to get near Tayuya yet, let alone talk to her. If that wasn't enough, Kabuto had yet to_ stop_ talking.

"Uchiha-san, whats the target's position?" "Uchiha-san do you have a visual?" "Uchiha-san _why_ are you so quiet?"

Uchiha-san, Uchiha-san. Itachi felt the veins at his temple throb, and he wondered what he'd done to deserve being stuck with a noob. _Kisame _was better than this nutcracker. Irritated enough to pull out his earpiece, a rather rare state for him, Itachi nonchalantly snapped the piece of equipment and dropped it into a nearby trashcan. He'd contemplated stepping on the thing, but he figured Kabuto could talk to the rest of his kin there in the trash.

All was blessed silent in his head. Now if only he could get rid of the blasted microphone. Itachi was on his way to the bathroom to rip the damned microphone from his chest when he saw her again. Tayuya. This time, he knew it was her, because she was with none other than Kimimaro. Feeling a lot more cheerful now that he was no longer had Kabuto's irritating voice in his ear, _and _he wasmaking progress, Itachi circled the room covertly to get a better visual.

He'd wait patiently for the two to part before deciding when to make his move. This night might turn out better than he'd planned.

* * *

**Raikage Auditorium**  
**11:18pm**

"How many times did I remind you that tonight was a _masked _ball, you thick headed moron?" Kakuzu hissed, miffed that he was stuck wearing a mask and his partner _wasn't._

"_Hell_ if I'd get caught _dead_ wearing one of those conventionalist pansy ass looking contraptions. Can you imagine my Jashin's reaction? She'd laugh herself mute." Hidan scoffed running one manicured hand over his slicked back silver hair with a rakish sneer. "They look _ridiculous, _and do I _look_ like one of these patsies? Actual masculine perfection shouldn't be hidden from the masses," he boasted, oozing self-satisfaction that drew more than one lady's lingering stare. He sent a busty blonde who sidled up too close a disinterested glare before continuing, " 'sides, Ya saved a buck, so quitcher bitchin' ya materialistic prick."

Kakuzu wasn't the least bit mollified by his associate's..._reassurances_. He was materialistic? Hidan was strutting through the crowd like a puffed up bird. Giving the 'peacock' at his side an annoyed look he spoke again, his voice low and craggly.

"Speaking of your supposed 'girlfriend', I'm sure she'd be delighted that you just ogled another woman's breasts."

The older of the duo made no bones about the fact that he didn't believe in this 'Jashin's' existence. Everyone in the Akatsuki, hell anyone that was unfortunate enough to be in hearing distance of Hidan's foul trap, had heard the sung praises of the man's 'Goddess Jashin-sama', but never once had any of them met her. Hell the man didn't even have a picture, claiming that perfection couldn't be captured properly by hedonistic machines created by man. There was even a betting pool back at headquarters. Sasori was of the opinion that the woman was some hideous occultist recluse. Tobi defended perhaps she was just shy, while Deidara just snidely said she was a figment of Hidan's desperately repressed imaginations. Kakuzu himself had to lean more towards his explosion expert co-worker's assessment himself; after all he spent so much time with the cocky platinum blonde potty mouth that he couldn't imagine anyone, let alone a woman, actually falling for the prick.

"Hmph as if. Not my fault the tart shoved them in my face," Hidan commented off hand, looking supremely uninterested. "My Goddess puts her to shame."

Rolling his eyes, Kakuzu grunted, "So you always say. Now... should we actually get to work or are you going to drag your feet all night?"

"Shut yer pie hole, ya scarred up freak," Hidan mumbled as he peered around the room. "Unlike your sorry excuse for attention, I've been scanning this place for Tayuya ever since we got here, and I've already found her. It's no sense trying to talk to her with Kimimaro glued to her ass."

"Where is she?" Kakuzu craned his neck as he looked about the room for Tayuya. Hidan grunted beside him.

"You blind ****," the silver haired male said, giving Kakuzu a look of disgust and disappointment. "Look on the dance floor. Fluffy purple dress on... she looks ****** fine tonight and you can't miss the way her boy-toy's practically ripping the broad's clothes off... but she still can't hold a candle to Jashin-sama." Kakuzu blinked at his partner.

"I should be getting paid better for this," he groused, stalking off in the direction of the dance floor as Tayuya moved away from Kimimaro. "Looks like there's trouble in Paradise, huh?" he muttered.

"Obviously," Hidan piped up, keeping pace with Kakuzu. "The woman's personality is like a freaking banshee. Like...the man-eating, scratch your eyes out variety. I don't know how Kimi-chan deals with it. If we didn't need her for this to work, I would have already sacrificed that loud mouthed cinnamon bitch to Jashin-sama. Never trust a woman who smells like a cooking spice. Sends all the wrong signals."

Yeah. All the people Hidan killed he claimed were sacrifices to Jashin. The man was seriously mental.

"What about vanilla?" Kakuzu asked absently as he pushed through the people. "When women smell like vanilla, it's not so bad." Hidan stopped walking.

"And all this time I thought you were like a eunuch or some shit? And you've been smelling women? Besides, why would ya want ta hang around some broad that constantly makes you hungry with her perfume?" A waiter with a tray full of empty glasses narrowly missed Hidan as he walked past, earning a scowl and a rude hand gesture from the silver-haired male.

"Speaking of perfume, she's headed toward the ladies' room. We swing around and cut her off?" Kakuzu confirmed the plan with his partner even as he walked toward the hall leading to the bathrooms. Hidan followed still glaring at the waiter as he hurried away, paling when he caught on to the gangster's foul mood.

"Slutty bimbos, rude bastards, and now I have to corner some broad by the loo. Isn't this considered sexual harassment? If we get arrested, you're the one I'm throwing at Jashin-sama's mercy," Hidan griped as the walked. "Somehow, this night is getting worse and worse. The only thing that could successfully top this whole thing off, is if I had damn Tobi for a partner instead of you," he continued grousing as he rudely shoved a masked gentleman out of his way.

Kakuzu chose not to respond, since Tayuya was, by now, only a couple paces ahead of them. It was time to report in.

* * *

**Raikage Auditorium**  
**11:20 pm**

"Report in, Pumpkin-chan," Charming-sama piped up in Sakura's earpiece, "What have we got so far?"

Sakura nibbled the inside of her lip before responding.

"Well, it seems that Kakuzu and Tayuya have got something going on the side. Wait, have I been demoted? Am I no longer Cinderella-hime?" Sakura teased in a low voice, her lips barely moving. It would look a bit too interesting if she was seen talking to herself.

"Stay focused, Pumpkin-chan," Charming-sama said, his deep voice surprisingly serious. "You don't want to underestimate those two. Never trust Akatsuki."

The smile fell from Sakura's face. He was right, after all. She _should _stay focused.

"Well, I saw Kakuzu and Hidan somewhere about the place. I didn't manage to get much about the situation out of Kimimaro-san, but he wants me to avoid Uchiha Itachi for some reason. I think I'll make a point to talk to him," Sakura went on, looking about for the mafioso pair. If only she knew what Uchiha Itachi actually looked like... She had her hand rested on the restroom door when she turned and saw them... literally two feet behind her! How much had they heard?

Deciding not to say anything in case it was the wrong thing, Sakura faced the two men silently, and blinked expectantly at them. They weren't speaking. They were staring at her as if they expected her to say or do something. Sakura scowled from behind her mask.

"Well?" she demanded finally, planting her hand on her hip. "Are you going to keep me here all night, you annoying bastards?" A reel of scatological terms were streaming through Sakura's mind. Shit, shit, shit. What the hell was she supposed to do or say to them? It was times like this she wished she could rely on her Prince to save her. Unfortunately there was no chance of that being possible. She just hoped they didn't have some password or something, because she sure as hell didn't know it. Hidan and Kakuzu shared a glance.

"We hit pay dirt," the silver-blonde declared arrogantly, and hiding her confusion, Sakura raised one eyebrow in what she hoped came off as impatience. The taller and more muscular of the two shoot the man at his side an aggravated glare.

"We found someone," Kakuzu rumbled to clarify, his voice deep and gravelly. Sakura let a disdainful glance slide over the scars on his face that seemed to split his mouth into a bizarrely wide grin. The man's green eyes narrowed at her perusal, and she rolled her eyes.

"And?" she scoffed cocking on hip to the side and crossing her arms under her bust line in a show of impatience. "Are you going to actually tell me what's going on, or are we gonna play games all night?" She eyed them, a sneer pushing its way to her lips.

"You red tightwad witch," Hidan growled. He opened his mouth to continue, but was interrupted by his partner.

"We decided to go with someone... in house," the larger man said flatly, ignoring Hidan. Sakura blinked. What the hell were they on about. There was a suspicious choking noise over her earpiece.

"Pumpkin-chan," Charming-sama croaked, still choking.

"Yeah?" Sakura answered both Kakuzu and Charming-sama with the single word.

"Milk that thread of conversation," Charming-sama said after composing himself.

"Yeah," Hidan piped up at the same time. "We are going with the weed freaks." Sakura blinked. Okay. The situation was getting away from her a bit. Sakura felt like different angles and positions were swirling around her and it was getting harder to sort through them.

"Hold up," she snapped. "Do elaborate, geezer," she snapped at Hidan, covertly insulting his hair while desperately trying to retake the reins of control. "What house and what weed? I don't remember agreeing to that." She looked to the side and fanned herself with a hand. "And what the hell did Kimimaro give me to drink?" she mumbled loud enough for them to overhear, just in case this was something Tayuya really _had _agreed to.

"The Zetsu twins," Kakuzu snapped impatiently, but didn't continue. Apparently she was supposed to know who those were. Unfortunately, she didn't. She'd just have to wing this. Luckily her partner seemed to know a little more than she did.

"Secondary members of their organization, Pumpkin-chan. They run a marijuana farm. Keep up and listen close, we need this."

"Oh those two," she said vaguely. "And you made sure that they are appropriate? No offence, but I'm doubtful of their cred. I don't need for you to screw this whole thing up." This time, both men scowled at her and Sakura hoped to god she wasn't blowing this. Having heard Charming-sama's urgency, she might not follow what was going on, but if he could, they couldn't afford to lose this lead.

"You bitch," Hidan jeered. "Baka, of course we're sure. Have we ever bombed a plan before? We know our shit," he went on, puffing his chest. "I've told you before, Toots, the sooner you stop being a snob and trust us, the smoother the operation and the sooner the Cat will be in the bag."

Sakura was about to respond when she caught sight of Kakuzu's annoyed eye roll over Hidan's head. The gesture was clearly for her benefit. What? What was Kakuzu insinuating? She decided to go with his flow.

"Whatever. If you're so good, go make sure my stupid boyfriend doesn't see us talking. Go find a way to make sure he stays far from this side like a good little Akatsuki," she demanded, making shooing gestures with her hand. "I'm tired of being accused of lowering myself to sleeping with the help."

She was taking a gamble with that comment, but having judged both men's dislike of Tayuya, she didn't think it was a risky one. If there was something between 'her' and Kakuzu then she'd play it off. Ignoring the strange gagging noise Hidan made, she feigned disinterest as he muttered under his breath about 'Jashin-sama' and 'Cinnamon flavored blood smears'. Kakuzu grunted and sent his partner a telling look.

"Keeping watch isn't a bad idea. Run along Hidan. Make sure we're not... interrupted. My time and money is being wasted as it is with your interruptions." Hidan's face morphed into several shapes of unholy disgust at the innuendo hidden in those words before he did a whole body shudder crab walk backpedal away from the pair.

"Fuck this kinky shit I'm gone," he spat hurrying down the hall, "Jashin-sama, save me from the evil immorality of mortal man..." he prayed before stalking away. There was a strange, stilted silence as Hidan moved away, and it was not until the silver haired male disappeared into the crowd that Kakuzu shifted.

The large man closed the distance between Sakura and himself with a single stride. His green eyes darkened as his gaze dropped to her face and he put an arm out, locking her in against the wall next to the restroom door. Sakura was grateful for her mask, because she was seriously freaking out. What the _hell? _Tayuya and Kakuzu? Why did she have to impersonate someone with so many … _interests_? How many more were there?

"I thought he might never leave," Kakuzu rumbled, his gaze straying to her lips. "I can't deal with the Kami-forsaken waiting, Tayuya," he went on, his voice husky as he leaned forward. Sakura shuddered inwardly and wished the waiting would turn into eternity. Her despair was echoed in her ear by a more vocal complainant, Charming-sama.

"You know, I'm a normally jovial fellow, but even I can get a little disgruntled when so many spoons keep dipping into my pudding cup." Charming-sama sounded neither charming nor willing to be pleasant. That brilliant reminder of her partner's presence got Sakura into action before the mafioso before her could get any closer.

"Not now, Kakuzu-san," Sakura hissed, turning her face to the side. "Kimimaro saw us the last time. I don't need to shake the boat any more right now." A growl escaped the large man's lips as he backed up only fractionally.

"I thought you were leaving that idiot," he rumbled, his dissatisfaction eking through into his tone.

"Just... Just tell me what else you have," Sakura went on, pushing the Akatsuki member away from her with a palm to his chest. Clearly annoyed, Kakuzu took a step back and scowled at her.

"We took care of the situation in Konohagakure like you asked. Wings were clipped, and beaks were stunted, so no more birds can sing, _just as you asked_." His voice grew more and more menacing, obviously not happy at being treated in such a manner. His hand had manacled around her upper arm, and his painted fingers dug into her pale skin harshly. As Sakura's heart began to flutter slightly in panic, she heard Charming-sama hiss an expletive.

"Fine. And lose the attitude, Kakuzu-san," Sakura growled, hating the little tremble in her voice. Things were so different with Kimimaro-san. Kami, what could Tayuya see in such a violently terrifying man? She yanked at her hand, trying to pull it out of his grasp, but the attempt was futile.

"Well, what do you expect? You've been putting me off for-"

"This is hardly the time or the place, Kakuzu," Sakura snapped, channelling her nervous energy to make her flustered state a bit more convincing. "Let me go." She tugged at her hand again.

Kakuzu glowered at her. He raised a brow. She was not going to escape until he got what he wanted, and that much was certain by the set of jaw and despite her years of on scene training something in his eyes made her want to run.

_'Dear Kami, is he exuding murderous intent towards a woman he is involved with?'_ She thought wildly that if he was willing to hurt a woman he loved, what would he do to _her_?

Charming-sama's voice rang in her ear, for once all humor absent. Her dear prince was now a cold tactician.

"Keep your cool, girl. Talk him down and around. We need to know what he knows."

Yeah, right. _He _could talk. He wasn't the one being stared down by someone whose chest was at her eye level. A very _wide _chest, with arms that looked as if they could snap her in half. Still, Sakura decided to attempt what Charming-sama was asking.

She angled her head to the side, baring her neck.

"Fine... don't leave a mark. And after that, you talk. We can continue all this somewhere else, some other time. It isn't like I _meant_ to put you off. I just _had _to," she mumbled, not meeting his eyes. She just hoped the moment would pass quickly. The obviously unstable man before her, was terrifying. Kakusu paused for a moment before he was back in her personal space. He made no sound nor said any words. Before Sakura could even react, one large, warm and calloused hand was gripping her jaw and the other held her shoulder. This was it. She prepared herself for the urge to hurl.

It refused to present itself. Sakura's eyebrows would have shot off her face in surprise if they could; Kakuzu was _good _at what he did! Though she was far from mentally enjoying the sensations, she couldn't deny her body's chemical reaction. Eyes wide, Sakura's mind reeled at the notion, while his hot mouth slid against the skin of her exposed neck. When the hand holding her shoulder slipped around to her back, Sakura snapped herself out of the haze. No. Oh, hell no. She cleared her throat.

"Enough," she said simply... or rather, she whispered. Kakuzu stepped away from her without a fuss, and eyed her with a smug expression on his face. Sakura cleared her throat again and put her hand over the damp spot on her neck. Kimimaro and now Kakuzu? The men around Tayuya were... talented, though Sakura really couldn't say she cared for the way, the woman apparently kept them all in line, seemingly using them as she saw fit- especially since she herself had to imitate the loose woman's actions.

"We... I completed the last..._personal _objective without hitch." The man continued, oblivious to her inner thoughts. "It went just as planned. Our little hamster runs in his wheel at a nice pace. I know you were worried about me being able to secure a good one, but rest assured, this rat's firmly under our... my boot," Kakuzu went on, his gaze glued to her hand. Sakura pretended not to notice, instead focusing on the way he corrected himself, as if someone else was involved and he didn't want her to know about it. "We just need the next of your father's objectives now," the large man went on.

Sakura was thankful that he was staring at her neck, because her eyes must have taken on the most blank expression known to man. Tayuya's father? What did he have to do with anything? This was turning out to be much more than she'd thought it would be.

"I had to distract Hidan with the Zetsu twins while I took care of the Konoha situation. This partner crap the Akatsuki pulled is annoying me and wasting my time," Kakuzu complained, scowling. Sakura hid her frown as she heard her partner begin to curse fluently in the earpiece in a language she didn't understand. She did her best to tune him out for the man in front of her.

"It was a good thing he had some ceremony with _Jashin_ or whatever, because he was contemplating joining me in Konohagakure, and that would not have worked out so well for us."

"Well, see that you keep our pet and your partner under control, Kakuzu, especially your partner. I don't want his eyes straying from the house cats, " Sakura snapped, folding her arms- mostly to hide the trembling in her fingers. The murderer... the one responsible for the deaths in Konoha... stood not a foot away and she could do nothing to apprehend him!

"I'm not ready to take the next step yet, so meet me later," she said in a low voice. "Here," holding out a folded slip of paper she'd prepared for just such an occasion, Sakura actual as casual as she could muster. "My number's recently and temporarily changed. If you need me, call that number." Turning away from Kakuzu and stalking into the restroom, she effectively dismissed him.

The restrooms were on the opposite side of the ballroom to the one she had left Tayuya in. Right now, she just needed somewhere to gather her thoughts and get away from all these people Tayuya seemed to need to meet and avoid. Leaning against the door to support her trembling legs Sakura covered her eyes with a hand that she could no longer keep from shaking. It was from fear as much as anger and adrenaline. Anger at the feeling that she was missing an important piece to the rapidly growing puzzle still, but not being knowledgeable enough about the situation to have been able to press for more.

"Oh _Kami_, what do we do now, Ki-" her partner cleared his throat before she could completely utter his name in still unsafe territory. "Sorry, Charming-sama...I just need a minute."

* * *

**Raikage Auditorium**  
**11:36 pm**

It only took him a minute. One short sixty second span of broken eye contact and he'd lost her. Lips thin with displeasure, Itachi cursed the entire night to hell, wondering what else could go wrong. Prowling around the edges of the ballroom, his sharp black eyes scanned thousands of masked faces looking for the one he'd had in his sights not moments before.

It was frustrating and a little demeaning. He'd been here for hours, and still he had not been able to have that desperately needed tête-a-tête with the red headed Sound Syndicate diva. Though it was no excuse for his lack of progress, he supposed his personal issues were affecting his emotions too much. It was not a realization the man enjoyed. Uchiha's prided themselves on self-control. In the last couple of weeks, he'd made one slip too many. Itachi released a controlled breath. He had to pull himself together. Now. If he could just find that blasted Tayuya.

And there she was. Just in time to prevent him from thinking that his senses were being dulled while he was in his prime. He couldn't miss that elaborate mask even if he tried. Changing course with little fuss, the Uchiha stalked his prey. There was no way he was letting her escape this time.

* * *

**Raikage Auditorium**  
**11:39 pm**

That waitress was not going to escape her full wrath. To drug her and then steal her clothing? Seriously? Tayuya was thinking thoughts stronger than her body was as she staggered to her feet. Standing took a lot of effort, and Tayuya's brain was foggy with what she already knew must be the after-effects of some drug. She'd felt like this several times before, but not in her recent history. Once the room - or _bathroom stall_, she thought, disgusted - stopped spinning, Tayuya was miffed to find herself dressless. That harlot had _robbed _her of a one of a kind _priceless thousand dollar masterpiece. _As if to add insult to injury, she'd been redressed in the unremarkable, scratchy and impossibly dowdy _maid uniform._

Oh, she was going to kill that bi-

Tayuya stumbled into the stall door, the pain in her shoulder - which she used to stop her face from hitting the marble - making her forget the rest of her mental threat. Whimpering and hissing out a breath, brown eyes flashed with murder once she'd regained her composure. Her perfectly manicured nails scraped shrilly over the slick door's surface, imagining it was her opponents eyes.

Blood was going be spilt this night.

* * *

**Raikage Auditorium **  
**11:45 pm**

Draining his fourth brandy of the night, Kimimaro paused as he spotted blood red hair across the room. Tayuya was making her way across the ballroom, her dress swishing gracefully around her legs. Even from a distance and covered with a mask he could tell her features were pale and distressed. Brow furrowing with worry, Kimimaro rested his glass on the tray of a passing waiter, and in so doing, his gaze flitted to the other corner of the room... the other corner where someone looking remarkably like Tayuya was stumbling from the women's restrooms.

Wait, what?

After he'd separated from his lover on the dance floor earlier, the Sound heir hadn't been able to shake the feeling that something was off. Now that very feeling was realized. Something was most definitely off.

First off, there were two Tayuyas, and that was something Kimimaro would never wish on the world. He might have drunk a lot of liquor tonight, but not _that _much. That was definitely Tayuya's dress on the woman gliding in his direction, but the expression of raw fury on the Tayuya stepping from the restrooms could not be replicated by anyone. Oh dear.

Kimimaro's eyes flitted from one woman to the other as his mind reeled for a plan of action. What the hell was going on, and who had he danced with tonight? Kimimaro had a sinking feeling that it hadn't been his hopeful fiance to be that had felt so perfect and made for his arms. Crap.

The mystery woman rushing toward him met his gaze and he watched her brown eyes become as confused as he felt, before her head snapped around. When the real Tayuya shrieked angrily, Kimimaro watched as her eyes went wide and she gathered her, or should he say his fiance's, dress up and bolted in the opposite direction. Kimimaro stood stock still, caught in a strange trance. How many times in one man's life did he see two Himura Tayuyas? Also, how many times in his life had he felt the way he'd felt dancing with the apparent imposter? The answer to both questions - None.

"What are you waiting for, you dumb blonde," the real Tayuya snapped as she approached unsteadily. "Go after her!" Kimimaro sighed internally. It was _definitely _not her that he'd been dancing with.

He was just about to obey his pissed-off lover when a wide shouldered form barrelled past him, knocking him slightly to the side. As the man passed him, Kimimaro saw two things at the same time: Tayuya's mouth opening to blast the man due to her already blazing temper... and the man's face.

Uchiha Itachi.

In a move so fast Kimimaro surprised himself, when his lover was in arms range, his hand shot out to cover her lips. His brain made a connection and he wasn't about to let this chance pass.

"Shh," he hissed harshly into her ear, jerking her against his chest. "Damn it, Tayuya. I told you to be quiet tonight." Tayuya spun to face him, and seeing the indignation in her eyes he tried not to notice how different she felt to him now.

"_Wha-_"

"Don't say a word," Kimimaro said sharply before she could continue. "We are leaving _now."_

* * *

**Raikage Auditorium**  
**11:47 pm**

After this, he was leaving, hot on the heels of his fleeing target.

She didn't even notice him as she ran. Itachi pushed his way around, moving faster than she could in her long dress and full skirts. She was glancing behind her as she barrelled through the crowd, not even noticing his presence a few feet to her left. Itachi pushed forward, dodging guests and staff and arms and glasses as he moved ahead of her. He couldn't lose her now, not before he got a good look at her.

His sharp black eyes refused to leave her form this time around even though the masses between them threatened to take her out of his periphery. Itachi halted for a moment, waiting for her to catch up. When she looked behind her, searching for someone supposedly on her tail, Itachi took a calculated step directly into her path of flight.

His toned body didn't even budge at the solid impact when she slammed into his chest. As she reeled backwards with a startled cry, her mask slipped from her face and clattered to the floor. He had her now. His arms snapped out and gently but firmly steadied her before she could follow.

Itachi watched as her eyes widened with recognition and she began to backpedal, trying to turn and run from him. Her panic at seeing him was clear but it was already too late for her. Her features had been memorized in a single glance and she was in his hands. _She wasn't getting away. _Not tonight. Not on his watch. Not gonna happen. His arm shot out again, fingers digging into the exposed flesh of her arm.

"You're coming with me," he stated firmly, dragging her behind him to the fringes of the ballroom. He was going to get the information he wanted from her, and he was going to get it now. Ignoring her struggles, Itachi firmly pushed her up against a wall and held her in place. He watched her quiet herself.

He watched... and for all his watching, he couldn't shake the feeling that he'd seen that face before. He'd seen the cheeks, the nose and the lips... but he couldn't place her. And why did he get the odd notion that her eyes were wrong?

* * *

**Raikage Auditorium **  
**11:47pm**

The minute she saw the shock on Kimimaro's face and saw her 'double' shrieking at her, Sakura knew she needed to get out of there and NOW.

"Run Pumpkin, and don't let anyone stop you, unless you wanna be baked into pie," her partner's voice rang loud and clear, a clear edge in his tone despite the humor. He'd obviously guessed what was going on with little to no difficulty.

Instantly upon hearing Charming-sama bark the order in her ear, Sakura gathered her skirts and had bolted from the scene as fast as her pinching shoes would allow. The doors were too far away for her liking and who knew if they were on her tail?! It was then that the disguised pinkette made a fatal error. In her panic she turned to check for pursuers, and slammed full body into a wall. Letting out a startled cry, her mask slipped, cracking loudly on the shiny marble floor. When she looked up and saw a face she'd seen just nights ago, in a little mask shop in town, Sakura's heart nearly cracked under the shock as well. It seemed her 'wall' wasn't a wall so much as a human with a chest that _felt _like a wall.

And he'd seen her face.

_Damn, Damn, DAMN!_

"Oi, why do I not hear your pretty little buns hauling ass?" Charming-sama demanded, and she could faintly hear the sound of squealing tires from his end of the intercom. Sakura didn't have time to respond, she had to get away!

Sadly, before she could escape and continue running, the hand of the man shot out and grabbed her arm. His grip was so tight it hurt, and Sakura knew that no matter how much she struggled, she would never escape it. _Dear Kami please don't recognize me. _She begged and prayed in her already slamming heart.

"You're coming with me," the human wall said, his voice smooth and silky... and deep. Shivers ran down a spine that snapped immediately and unwillingly to attention. The tone he used was horribly commanding, and Sakura felt her struggles grow a little weaker even as her annoyance rose. Who the hell was this, and what did he want from her? This night was turning out to be far from what she'd originally expected. This last hour in particular was taking a turn for the worst.

"Woman, Charming-sama likes promptly answering princesses!" her getaway driver snapped into the mike. All the while she was being dragged and then was unceremoniously pushed up against a wall.

The man's dark eyes peered at her from behind his mask, but she would recognize them, and the shiny black hair... and the lips... anywhere. Also, she remembered the mask without effort.

"Where were you all night? Hiding?" he asked, his annoyance evident in his tone even though he was mocking her. Sakura blinked. What the hell? Was she supposed to know this man? Tired of games, Sakura glared and tried to think of a way to covertly answer her partner's questions, so that he'd stop making her ear ring.

"Who are you, and how dare you manhandle me like this!" She snarled loudly and mentally agreed with every curse words Charming-sama was currently uttering.

"Who caught you?" he demanded over the earpiece, even as her captor's eyes narrowed.

"Don't play games with me, Tayuya." The dark haired man didn't even raise his voice. In fact he lowered it; a silkily delivered warning. Sakura's mind reeled; this meant this man thought she was Tayuya still. Mind racing, Sakura quickly changed tactics. She'd have to play this carefully and try and find a way to slip out the man's identity for her partner's benefit.

"Well, you couldn't have expected me to make it easy for you," Sakura said in a matter-of-fact tone, trying to channel Tayuya for the umpteenth time that night. She was swiftly approaching her limit with this character. "What took _you _so long?"

"I have no time for your humor, on'na," he said blandly, his face straight and serious. "You owe me some information." Oh how formal he was. Not much fun at all. More like... not much to work with. How was she supposed to improvise when he gave nothing away. The way he was looking at her, which somehow gave the impression that she owed him something, and _a lot _of that something, made something click into place mentally for the ROOT agent.

"You must be... Uchiha Itachi, ne?" she went on, switching to a slightly playful attitude, because she had a feeling Tayuya's usual behaviour would get nowhere with this man.

"Fuck me blind, _why _of all people did you have to run into the damn big bad wolf?" Charming-sama whined sounding like a child who'd gotten his cake stomped on. "Forget baking pie, you're going to be eaten alive _raw_!" His next advice was given in a dead serious tone, clear with warning. "Do not poke the angry wolf with a stick. He bites. Run if you can."

Swallowing Sakura mentally berated her dummy partner that his dramatics were NOT HELPING!

At the Uchiha's answering glare, she whined, "Come on, humor me a bit. Kimimaro had me on a tight leash tonight. I'm feeling... repressed." To someone who wasn't looking for something, _anything_ really, to go off of, it would look as if the stoic man in front her had not altered his expression, but Sakura _was _looking for something, so she caught his deadpan.

"I am Uchiha Itachi," he confirmed mildly. "Now, talk." Speaking of talking, he wasn't much of a talker, was he? It was like he chose only the most necessary words out of the plethora of applicable ones. Not much of a conversationalist. Which made her job _so _much harder! Damn it.

Desperately trying to buy some time, Sakura sauntered away from him, her mind reeling and eyes darting around for the real Tayuya, terrified she and her lover would descend at any moment.

"Why?" she asked, a little childishly. Something hard pressed into the small of her back. Her years of experience in the field told her that it was most definitely a gun. Shit.

"_Talk,"_ he commanded firmly, not even bothering to hide the veiled threat.

"A-are guns r-really necessary?" Sakura did her best not to stammer but this guy's repressive aura was making Kakuzu look like a cute kitten. "You're not much fun, are you?" she added, trying to hold onto Tayuya's shield of confidence. It suddenly occurred to her that Tayuya had been hiding from this guy, or had been attempting to, anyway. The 'why' was unknown, and currently making her tummy do strange unpleasant gymnastics.

"...which part of 'Do not provoke humorless carnivore' did you not get, Pumpkin?" Charming-sama dead panned, but she ignored him as to her surprise, the Uchiha began to chuckle. There was nothing friendly about the sound.

"Distractions won't save you." The gun in her back made his words sound just as serious as she presumed they were. The bastard. Where he was aiming probably wouldn't kill her if he shot her, but she would end up a vegetable, and in pain for the rest of her then miserable life. Great.

_'Sadistic bastard', _she thought sourly.

"Give him something, anything, and get out of there, Pumpkin. Midnight's approaching and your cover's already blown to the ones that matter; they won't be far behind."

"Give a girl a break," she snapped, as much to her partner as to the Uchiha, her nervousness aiding her act quite a bit. "There was a deal, between you Akatsuki and us... and you guys royally screwed us over."

"Liar," the Uchiha said simply, his gun still pressed up all close and uncomfortable against her spine.

"I'm not lying. _You _are simply misinformed," she said, as if it was the most logical thing in the world. Inside, she was facepalming at her lame response. This was going to get really bad before it got better. She needed to get out of there, and fast.

"You need to uncross your wires, Uchiha-san," she said snarkily, deciding that nothing would be too stupid an idea if she wanted to get away from him.

So she kissed him. That's right. Full on the lips, open-mouthed and closed-eyed. She could feel the gun pressing into her stomach, but her hastily gathered courage wouldn't let her back down. This was all she could think to do. She'd been told before that she was a good kisser, a great kisser even, so why not attempt this? The only other alternative was to come clean, and that was not even an option.

With that in mind, she crushed her lips to his flatter, warm, smooth ones and hoped for the best. Lingering longer than she'd like to admit, Sakura pulled away and whispered her cell number into his ear, taking advantage of his renewed shock. Not allowing herself to think about how delicious he'd tasted, Sakura stepped away as fast as she could.

She then got the hell out of dodge.

* * *

**Amegakure no Sato**  
**Outside Raikage Auditorium**  
**12:00 midnight**

Sakura pushed into the air outside the auditorium, its coolness refreshing as against the almost unbearable heat inside the building. She couldn't get caught by anyone else tonight. As it was, her impersonation was only clinging by a thread. She had not eaten since midday to make her character seem as crabby and unstable as Tayuya's seemed, and her hunger was catching up to her.

A deep breath set her at momentary peace, a feeling that was quickly stolen by her well honed senses. She was being watched. Not good.

The road ahead of her was empty of cars and people, but behind her, people were still milling about around, and their number was too great to make out any one in particular that might be watching her. Trained to live by her fear, Sakura took off down the road as fast as she could on her stolen five-inch heels. She glanced behind her every couple of seconds, trying to justify her fear with a visual confirmation of the sense that she was being followed. To make matters worse, her earpiece gave a sudden buzzing noise before it went silent, with only random spurts of static reminding her that it was still in her ear.

Panic squeezing her chest tighter each time her search came back without results, Sakura continued down the wet road, the streetlights bathing sections in pools of orange light, while some areas were cloaked in impenetrable shadows. She could even hear the footsteps of her pursuers, but not for anything could she see them.

The squeal of car tires made her breath hitch in her throat. At the intersection ahead of her, an unknown black car with tinted windows stopped in her path.

Charming-sama? Her steps quickened towards her ride, and her strides were as long as she could make them in the feathered ball gown, but Sakura's stomach sank as the next few seconds of her life happened in slow motion.

Her momentum in her heels too great for her to stop running, Sakura watched as the door opened when she was about ten feet from the vehicle. It was indeed her partner...but something was wrong.

The yellowish street light reflected off the car's windows, Charming-sama's teeth, and his gun muzzle.

Terror blindsided her in that moment, reducing the bones in her legs to the firmness of petroleum jelly in the midday sun.

Sakura felt herself falling the moment she saw the flash of light from the gun, and heard the blast, and soon after she felt the burning pain of betrayal in her heart. The Amegakure streets met Sakura's knees and elbows with enough force to implant pebbles into her soft skin as she collapsed hard to the cold pavement.

Shit.

* * *

**Tantantaa! Evil cliffie again! The most evilest yet! So, we are terribly sorry for the delay, and we hope the wait was worth it! Please let us know what you think! We live off your reviews! We really hope to be quicker with the next chapter!**

**Btw, we just noticed that Chapter 4 in its entirety is all of 16,218 words...Good thing we split in the end...yowza**


	6. Never What It Seems

**Never Turn Your Back**

-_A TayMor and Addicted-to-GazettE collaboration..._

**Finally, we are back! We apologize for taking so very long to upload, what with the cliffhanger and everything! (Addicted: You can blame me. *fail face*) Anyway, here goes!**

* * *

**Previously on NTYB:**

_The yellowish street light reflected off the car's windows, Charming-sama's teeth, and his gun muzzle._

_Terror blindsided her in that moment, reducing the bones in her legs to the firmness of petroleum jelly in the midday sun._

_Sakura felt herself falling the moment she saw the flash of light from the gun, and heard the blast, and soon after she felt the burning pain of betrayal in her heart. The Amegakure streets met Sakura's knees and elbows with enough force to implant pebbles into her soft skin as she collapsed hard to the cold pavement._

_Shit._

* * *

**Chapter 5: Never What It Seems**

**Amegakure no Sato**

**12:05 am**

Wailing sirens ripped through the otherwise silent night, citrine lights flashing brightly in the dark as it raced through the Amagakure streets. Due to the hour, it being just past midnight, the ambulance didn't have much in the way of traffic to manoeuvre around, however, the streets were slick from recent rainfall. But, with a gunshot victim inside, the ambulance driver still couldn't chance driving too slowly even though he ran the risk of hydroplaning and losing control of the emergency vehicle.

"Hurry up, would you?" the man in the back of the ambulance rasped anxiously, his eyes glued to the pale female strapped to the gurney. This was not the ending he'd had in mind for tonight. He'd only wanted to protect her! How had it all gone so wrong?

Her hand felt so small and cold in his rougher one. Had her hand always been so small? It seemed like a lie.

This was all his fault. If he'd just been a little more accurate... Just a bit more accurate and he could have saved her. But he'd been consumed with the need to protect her, and his actions had ended up almost killing her instead. The ambulance swerved roughly to the side as it careened around a corner, throwing the male over the gurney, which almost had him crushing the female on it. The assisting nurse sitting on the other side of the gurney pulled him off her with a sympathetic expression before she quickly began running stat checks on the victim.

"You okay back there?" the driver called as he turned another corner.

"Her BP is now ninety over sixty and still dropping; she's hypotensive," the nurse called back sharply. "Also her temperature is getting dangerously low. We have to get her to the ER stat!" The man's eyes widened as he listened to the nurse. The machine the female victim had been attached to began beeping ominously.

"Takoyaki... speed up," the nurse called urgently, pressing her fists to the female's chest and pumping.

"It's Tanoyaki, you bitch," the driver spat with a strained chuckle as he sped up. "Hang tight, we're almost there!" The man in the back of the ambulance was silent with worry, his eyes anxiously watching the moving numbers and falling lines on the emergency vehicle's machines.

"She's going to be okay, right?" he asked anxiously. "She's gotta be okay!"

The nurse sent him a quick glance but didn't respond. She didn't have time to. The ambulance jerked to a halt and the back doors of the vehicle were flung open. Surgeons in the Amegakure Hospital's purple scrubs stood at the ready, pulling the gurney forth as soon as the doors were open. The man watched with bloodshot eyes as her cold limp hand slipped from his shaking fingers.

"BP fifty eight over eighty seven, temp is seventy seven and dropping," the trauma nurse said sharply as the nurses and surgeons rolled the female on the gurney into the hospital leaving the stunned man behind. "Gunshot wounds to the chest and shoulder. She was shot at close range and the bullet exited from her back."

The nurse monitoring her vitals as they ran hissed urgently, "Pulse dropping!" Another nurse trotted down the hall in their direction.

"OR One is prepped and ready," she said curtly, motioning the group in her direction. The man watched them move frantically to get the gurneyed female to the operating room. His eyes were glued to her purple dress; the one that had looked so wonderful on her, now soaked in blood, and his heart squeezed with dread. He couldn't bear to look at her face, so slack and pale in unconsciousness. Didn't want to listen as they shouted that the blood loss was becoming critical or that her pulse was bottoming out. Hated to think that he'd caused this. Him and his bad decisions.

The automatic doors to the ER slid shut before he'd gathered himself enough to follow them. He didn't know how long he stood there in the hallway of the hospital, surrounded by the sharp smell of antiseptic and blood. Her blood. Wordlessly a nurse came and pulled him to the waiting room, gently pushing him into a seat. He track of how long he sat there, eyes glued to the door as he watched for the return of one of the surgeons.

Then the door opened and a surgeon backed into the waiting room. The man jumped to his feet, eyes trained on the surgeon expectantly. His stomach dropped as the man's dark eyes met his, and he searched for any sign of hope on the surgeon's solemn, blank face.

"Is she..." he couldn't force the words past the thick lump of terror in his throat. Kami, but he couldn't say it. He couldn't ask the question. He couldn't bear even the _thought _of losing her.

His legs were numb, and the grieving man wished that it'd been him shot instead of her. It could hurt no less than his heart, and every beat of the organ felt sharp and harsh like the gunshots fired not even an hour ago.

Even now he could hear the sharp cracks they had made in the silent night.

Bang! Bang!

* * *

**Amegakure no Sato  
Outside Raikage Auditorium  
12:05 am**

_Bang! Bang!_

Itachi heard the loud report from the gun, saw Tayuya fall to the ground, and a harsh curse slipped from his lips. He was losing his touch. He didn't usually curse. But damn it, the chauffeur had shot her! He hadn't been done with her yet! The yellowish glare from the streetlights formed a pool of light around the fallen form of his quarry. She had known he was behind her all along; he could tell from the pattern of her movements. However, the woman now struggling to get up obviously hadn't been hit. What was going on?

The street lights glittered off the shadowed muzzle of the chauffeur's gun as it jerked. Two more loud reports followed the bright flashes of light as the man fired twice more. In a sudden moment of clarity, Itachi spun around to look behind him, now thankful for the shadows of the road he was on where the street lights didn't quite reach. There, in the road behind him, two men lay writhing on the ground. The chauffeur hadn't been aiming at Tayuya at all, but on the two men that had been tailing her!

By the time the thought registered, and the stunned Uchiha turned around, Tayuya was already staggering to her feet.

Her face turned up to the light, Itachi had to admit that the woman was beautiful, and strangely familiar. Wispy strands of crimson hair, mussed by the unsettling of her headpiece, floated around her face, tumbling down her back and bouncing in wide curls over her shoulders. Her face was smooth, caught in the glare of the yellow light, her straight nose perfect, and her cheekbones high and outstanding. Though her lips were an angry line, her face was still pale with shock, and her expression soon registered disorientation and fury. Itachi caught sight of a curved scar on her right temple, framing her eye.

As she attempted to steady herself, the sound of ripping material sounded down the street. Without him even realizing, Itachi's eyes dropped to the ridiculously large tear in her dress, which started at the hem of her feathered skirt and ended in the mesh at her waist. When she moved, the light from overhead brought his attention to a brief flash of skin at her shoulder. His eyes narrowed contemplatively as... What the ...? Was that...a tattoo...?

He didn't remember reports in Tayuya's physical appearance mentioning a tattoo. The observation rang a warning bell in his head, but with a shake of his head, Itachi pushed it to the back of his mind for the time being.

* * *

**Amegakure no Sato  
Outside Raikage Stadium  
12:05 am**

Hitting the pavement hurt more than she'd been expecting it to. Her ears were ringing from the shots being fired over her head, and Tayuya's dress had split down the back when her heels caught the hem. Oops. But that was the least of her problems.

It took Sakura a moment to realize that... well... she hadn't been shot!

She felt a bit silly for not realizing this sooner, but in face of the shock still fading from her panicking mind, Sakura didn't feel quite as special.

"Pumpkin, if you're done flirting with the pavement, you're welcome to join me anytime now."

Scowling darkly the pinkette gone redhead half crab-walked toward the car spitting profanities at him the whole time.

Gracelessly sprawling across the passenger seat the door and trying to fit all of her voluminous skirt in with her, emerald eyes shot fire at her partner.

"WHAT the hell was THAT?!" she shrieked, angrily slamming the car door.

Charming-sama didn't answer merely flashed her a grin that reminded her of a naughty child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Now, now, Pumpkin, dont get your panties in a twist... You were being followed sweeting. What kind of prince would I be if I didn't save the day?" as the car shot forward at daring speeds for such a rainy night, her partner tutted, the long shadows otherwise hiding his face from view. Sakura didn't need to see the bastards face though, to know he was grinning. It was all in his tone, the smug prick.

"THE KIND THAT DOESN'T SHOOT AT THE PRINCESS!" Sakura snarled the words as she belted herself in and tried not to have a heart-attack due to the man's crazy driving.

"I told you skipping meals would make you cranky," he tutted, totally unperturbed by her sour mood and unrepentant to boot. "Let's get you something to eat, alright Cinderella-chan?"

"Oh, so I'm Cinderella-chan as soon as you're in trouble, huh?" Sakura growled in annoyance. He had the audacity to ignore her... even though he looked like he was squelching a grin.

"You know, you're right. Fast food is expensive. I have fried chicken left in the backseat if you wanna share. The breasts are kinda dry, if you know what I mean, but the legs, the legs are where its at-"

Sakura sunk into her seat, nails biting into her thighs in an effort to keep her hands from reaching across the gear shift and strangling the idiot.

Kami save her from the idiocy of men!

* * *

**Amegakure no Sato  
Amegakure General Hospital**

**12:47 am**

_Pull a miracle and save her. _

Kneeling on the ground, Asuma held a rosary in his hand as he prayed to any and every deity that might be listening.

Her condition was still critical but the doctor assured him that the surgery had been a success. He couldn't do this without her. She'd coded four times on the operating table. The news nearly destroyed him. He couldn't eat, he couldn't rest, he couldn't think about anything else but his little girl, and the thought that her life was in danger _again_ was breaking his heart.

The single bite he'd tried to take of the food the nurses had forced on him had tasted like dirt. He'd barely been able to swallow. The rest he'd pitched in the trash. As for sleep... every time he closed his eyes the memory of her floral printed purple sundress, the one he'd just got her for her birthday last week- that she'd been so proud to wear, soaked with blood... he shuddered. No sleep wasn't an option.

She had been in the OR for about half hour now, and even though Asuma knew that such surgeries could take a much longer time than only half hour, the worry was killing him. The doctors had tried to explain that the bullet, when passing through her chest had broken off a shard of bone, which had dislodged and punctured her heart. The little Asuma knew about medical conditions made his worry increase hundredfold when he heard that.

His baby girl was already so weak as it was... Asuma closed his shaking fingers over his knees in an attempt to quell their trembling. His knuckles showed bone white due to strain through the swarthy tan of his skin.

Sakiko had aplastic anemia, a condition that prevented her bone marrow from creating red blood cells. Any blood loss was a serious matter as he body did not easily reproduce red blood cells like that of a normal person. In fact, Asuma had lost count of the amount of blood transfusions and treatments that Sakiko had had to undergo just to keep her body functioning correctly, and the expense was crippling him.

He'd left his job for her. The job hadn't been paying enough, so he'd packed up and come to Amegakure to... utilize his abilities for something more … lucrative. Asuma knew all the ins and outs of accounting. He knew how to clog a money trail and block investigations with seemingly legitimate expenses. Give him a computer bank and he could hand you the world. But what use was this for a sick little girl? He buried his face in his hands trying to ignore the suspicious burning of his eyes as tears threatened to gather. None. There was nothing he could do to fix Sakiko's injuries. Code's and expertise with data didn't show him how to save his child. He was getting too old for this.

Take tonight for example. A simple outing, that's all it was supposed to be. Just something to make Sakiko smile. But then _they_ had shown up, again. Damn, those Akatsuki bastards were persistent. He'd seen them before, but even he knew well enough to know that the Akatsuki were not people one should get involved with if one had the chance. He had plenty of other large businesses and firms to embezzle funds from so as to pay his daughter's medical bills. He had no need to get entangled in an organization as unforgiving as the Akatsuki.

He'd been dodging them for month but they were as persistent as they were feared, and they had turned up at every opportunity that they had to get Asuma alone. Tonight... tonight they had caught him while Sakiko had gone to the bathroom. She didn't know about the life he led. She didn't know the things he did to pay for the continuance of her life. Kami, his little angel would be so ashamed of him...

Asuma held his head in his hands once more as his mind brought back the events of almost an hour prior with startling clarity.

* * *

**Amegakure no Sato**

**The Slug Princess **

**Earlier that evening **

_"Tell me again why you even want to come here? If they serve me slugs, I swear-" Asuma teased Sakiko, ruffling her dark hair. _

_"Dad... you are being an idiot. They don't serve slugs here... although... if we asked..." Sakiko returned, a cheeky smile on her lips. Asuma rolled his eyes. _

_"Fine. I suppose I can make an exception tonight, and allow myself to eat whatever pleb fare they serve in this vile place," he said with a chuckle, rolling his cigarette between his lips._

_"What, you mean as against those greasy burgers you get from-"_

_"DON'T even say the name, you blasphemous child," Asuma growled playfully, pushing open the glass door to the popular fast-food chain. The franchise served particularly high class food despite its status as a fast food chain, and floated in the rather vague margin between fast food and gourmet. It was also affordable enough to allow Asuma to take Sakiko there for a treat every now and again._

_Before Asuma could continue his rant, Sakiko neatly plucked his cigarette from between his lips as she passed under his arm, through the door and into the restaurant._

_"Wha-! Child! What have I told you about a man and his cigarette?" Asuma scolded petulantly, knowing that the habit was dangerous and he should quit anyway._

_"Dad... smoking stinks... and... I'm not supposed to be around the fumes," Sakiko reminded him gently. Asuma felt guilt creeping in. He should have thought of that. Damn. Smiling apologetically, he removed the pack of cigarettes he kept in his pocket and handed it to Sakiko._

_"Okay, Sweetheart. Keep those away from me, will you?" he said, allowing the scent of the restaurant to surround him. Damn, but inside of The Slug Princess smelled like a dream._

_"Dad, let's go get a table," Sakiko declared, skipping off towards one of the tables in the back of the restaurant. Asuma followed her, shaking his head in amusement over her excitement._

_"Welcome to The Slug Princess," a waitress said before Asuma's rear had sufficiently sank into the booth seat. "Are you ready to give an order?" she asked, smiling pleasantly at the duo. Asuma sent Sakiko a grin._

_"Oh, I dare say Sakiko is ready. She knew what she wanted from before we even got here. She'll order for me as well," Asuma said, leaning back in the booth and giving Sakiko a cheeky grin._

_"Oh, I see how you're gonna play this," she said in a dramatic voice as they begun their dining traditions. They always played the silly, pointless game whenever they ate out. _

_"Hmm, yes, I'm afraid so, Sakiko. This is how the cookie crumbles," he said, schooling his features into a cold mask._

_"I understand, Father," she continued her tone grave and formal. "After all I have done for you... and this is how you repay me? Very well... I shall take the fall," Sakiko said with faux sorrow as she turned large brown eyes to the waitress and calmly gave her order._

_Asuma saw the twinkle of amusement in her eye as the waitress looked back and forth at them in confusion. It was fun to play games in front of the servers... who never seemed to know what to do or think. The waitress dutifully took the order and made off as quickly as her high-heeled legs could carry her._

_Roughly five minutes later, Asuma chuckled as he saw his little angel begin to wiggle in her seat in that telltale manner he'd long begun to recognize. "You have time to run to the bathroom before the food gets here, Sweetheart. Are you alright going by yourself?" _

_She gave him that adorable pouty look all 12 year olds give their fathers when they say something ridiculously embarrassing. _

_"Daaaad! I'm _twelve, _not _five!" _She quickly slid out of the chair and raced off to the bathroom while her father chuckled after her. Keeping his eyes trained towards the bathroom to watch for her return so that he could wave to her if she couldn't find him, he didn't notice when someone joined him at the table._

_"You're a hard man to track down, you slippery bastard." _

_Jerking his head around Asuma felt his heart stop when he took in the man now occupying the chair Sakiko had just vacated not moments before. Swallowing down the panic rising in his throat Asuma wiped his suddenly damp palms on the thigh of his second hand slacks._

_Damn, Damn, Damn. How had they found him?_

_The man sitting across from him was a face he'd seen often in the past couple of months. Sadly he was now accustomed to the foul language and rather...interesting fashion choices the Akatsuki member made. True in his ripped chain laden pants and black tank top he was still less conspicuous than his scar ridden partner, but still it made him stick out like a sore thumb. _

_"How'd you find me?" Asuma growled the words in an undertone. There was no use concealing the fact that he'd been hiding. Both of them knew the truth and time was a thing Asuma didn't have a lot of. He didn't know how long he had before his little girl came bouncing out of the bathroom. Just the image of his innocent angel even laying eyes on the dangerous mobster across from his sent him into the troughs of cardiac arrest. _

_As for her meeting the cold blooded killer across from him...the was no way in hell he was going to allow that to happen. _

_"You underestimate us, old man." Hidan sneered "Rats always leave a steaming pile after all." The silver haired man's sentence was riddled copiously with expletives, most of which Asuma thought were completely unnecessary._

_"Hidan..." the man's companion growled. "Tone it down. You're in an establishment packed with housewives and brats... we wouldn't want to get thrown out before business is finished. Besides, all those curse words just use up valuable time... and time is money." The man seemed to be genuinely uncomfortable with the amount of nervous glances they were gathering. He pulled the hood of his jacket lower to hide his face a little better. _

_Hidan scoffed at his partner, "Give it up. You and that pansy getup are the complete antithesis of threatening." _

_Kakuzu glared at him and growled threateningly. Hidan scowled back, unwilling to back down. "Down Fido, before I need to put you down," the blonde sneered sarcastically. Kakuzu's hands clenched into fists. _

_Sensing that the mood between the partners was quickly souring, Asuma cleared his throat in hopes that changing the subject could diffuse the situation. _

_"...Gentleman, hate to interrupt, but I'm a little pressed for time in the moment. Could you kindly cut the crap and tell me why you're here?" _

_Kakuzu having regained his composure quieted down and began rummaging in a black backpack for something. _

_If only the same could be said about his mouthy partner._

_"Ballsy little rat aren't you, Sarutobi. You'd best be glad Tweedle-dum over here thinks you're irreplaceable otherwise, I'd see about putting an end to that mouth of yours." At Hidan's words, Asuma absently wondered if that would make silver haired man... 'Tweedle-dee'..._

_"The only mouth needing to be shut is yours, Hidan," Kakuzu interrupted, apparently having located what he'd been digging for. Sliding a manila folder across the smooth surface of the countertop, he ignored the verbal sewage his partner spewed at his head and focused on Asuma. _

_"As we told you during our last encounter, we are in dire need of your...expertise-" the older man began before Asuma cut him off impatiently with a scoff. Encounter was putting it mildly. It'd more of a hostile kidnapping and brutalization. His ribs, though mostly healed, still ached from where they'd been cracked during that last 'encounter'. Scowling Asuma told them just what he thought of their methods. _

_"And as I told you, you-son-of-a bitch, I'm not interested." His fingers twitched in agitation the digits unconsciously craving the familiar feel of a lit cigarette. Palms patting his pockets in search of his addiction Asuma swallowed a curse as he remembered handing them to Sakiko earlier. _

_Sakiko._

_The remainder of his little girl brought the slimy grip of fear back to his belly. _

_As if reading his thoughts. Kakuzu smiled thinly. The gesture was neither happy nor amused. In fact it reminded Asuma of the look of a lion's face before it sunk its teeth into its prey._

_"I won't dance to your tune," Asuma intoned coldly, his resolve solid. There was no way in hell he was going to get involved with what these men were rolled up into. Standing from the table, Asuma pointedly ignored the folder on the table and turned his back on the Akatsuki members. Shoving his hands into his pockets to disguise his frayed nerves Asuma quickly made for the back door, which was conveniently enough located by the bathrooms. If he got there quick enough, maybe he could grab Sakiko and get out of there before the two mobsters were aware of her existence. _

_He'd barely made it two steps before his whole world turned upside down._

_"Tell me Sarutobi...How's your little girl?" Hidan called after him, cackling with glee. _

_Air clogged his throat nearly choking him as the words rang in his ears. No... How had they found out? He'd been so careful! Swallowing down the desperate cry of anger and grief, Asuma dug his nails into his palms to stop himself from spinning around to leap across the table and smash the smug mobsters face into the linoleum over and over again- until that smug smile busted in and his face was even more mangled than it already was. Shoulders tensed Asuma kept walking calm on the outside, but oh so frantic inside. _

_Hastily his plans for the evening began to change. They had to leave. That was their only option. Tonight. Now. As soon as possible. _

_Now that they knew about Sakiko, there was no way she'd be safe. _

_Once out of eyesight, Asuma broke into a run and thanked whatever god was listening when he saw Sakiko just coming out of the bathroom. Her big brown eyes widened when she saw his pale face._

_"Papa...?"_

_Kneeling down in front of her Asuma gave his precious girl a shaky smile. _

_"Hey sweetheart, how would you like to take a trip with Daddy?"_

_She blinked at him her young eyes oddly serious as she said, "Daddy, what's wrong?"_

_Asuma shook his head and cupped her soft cheek, still pudgy with remnants of baby fat. "Nothing. Daddy just thought of something he wants to show you, but to make it in time, we have to leave right now, understand?" Sakiko furrowed her eyebrows in confusion but never one to argue with her papa, she nodded after a slight pause. _

_"Okay." _

_Her small hand slipped into his, her eyes big and trusting. _

_Asuma swore to himself that he wouldn't let anything happen to betray that trust. They'd make it somehow, somewhere- someplace safe. _

_He wouldn't let her down._

_Grasping her small hand in his, Asuma led her down the hall and away from the Akatsuki members. _

_Neither was aware that as the stepped into the bright sunlight, that they would never make it home._

* * *

**Amegakure no Sato**

**Amegakure General Hospital**

**1:15 am**

Asuma wasn't aware of how long he sat there lost in his musings when the door to the waiting room hissed as it opened, letting in a surgeon in the Ame General Hospital's dark blue scrubs.

"Sarutobi-san?" the man called softly, and Asuma was on his feet in an instant, closing the distance between the surgeon and himself.

"I am Dr. Toru, the head surgeon in charge of your daughter's case. Sir, were you aware that your daughter suffers from aplastic anemia?" At Asuma's hurried nod, the doctor continued. "Well, then you must know how difficult this condition makes it to operate. We were able to isolate and remove the shards of bone from her heart, and we are keeping her connected to a blood supply to ensure that she doesn't run out. She's not out of the woods yet, and we know this is hard, but we are asking that you be patient," Dr. Toru finished, resting a gentle hand on Asuma's shoulder.

Asuma nodded blankly, knowing they were just doing their jobs.

"Save my little girl," he whispered. Dr. Toru gave him a long look before turning and heading back to the OR. Asuma blindly made his way back to a seat before he collapsed, tossing his head backwards.

* * *

**Amegakure no Sato  
Itachi's House  
1:22 am**

Itachi tossed his head backwards, allowing his loose hair to fall over his shoulders and down his back. The warm spray from the rain shower above him cascaded over his upturned face and down his long hair, plastering the black strands to his skin. Itachi closed his eyes and forced himself to just breathe, to compartmentalize, to analyse the events of the night in thematic, cold order. He ran long, slim fingers soothingly through his hair, raking his scalp with short nails as the warm water pounded against the skin of his chest.

The water slid down the muscles of his bare body, eradicating the last vestiges of the pent up adrenaline and the stress. Reaching out a hand, the Uchiha reluctantly switched off the shower before reaching for his wash-cloth and shower gel. Some of his hair had slipped back over his shoulder, and Itachi impatiently flicked the water-soaked lock back over his back before pouring a generous glob of the spicy-scented shower gel onto his wash-cloth.

His fingers worked the gel into a lather with the ease of habit, and he began to languidly wash himself. His motions were firm but still gentle; he had no problem pampering himself in the shower. It was one of the ways he kept himself sane in this line of business. Soon, his entire body was coated in fine, white, fragrant suds, and the scent of the shower gel filled the steam filled bathroom.

Itachi switched the shower back on and allowed the warm water to cascade over his body once again, using his hands to aid the water in the removal of the suds. When his entire body was clean, the Uchiha grabbed a bottle of shampoo, put a generous portion into his hand, and worked the viscous liquid into his hair. He massaged his scalp with his fingers, feeling himself relax as he did so. He always felt more rational when his body was clean.

When satisfied that his hair was clean enough, Itachi faced away from the shower, tilted his head backwards into the spray and let the water wash the frothy shampoo out of his hair. He used his hands to make sure that there were no missed suds, combing through his wet locks slowly and carefully.

Itachi stood in the onslaught of water for a few moments more before switching it off and stepping out of the glass-enclosed shower stall. The bathroom was filled with steam from his long shower, making the bathroom mirror unable to reflect any images. Itachi did not care. He simply grabbed a dark terry-cloth towel and wrapped it loosely around his waist, holding it closed with a firm hand.

He didn't seem to mind the water droplets that dripped from his hair and down his back, or the rivulets of water that traversed the skin between his pectorals and ran down over and between his defined abdominals.

Opening the door and stepping into the adjoining bedroom, Itachi was just about to begin towelling off when his landline rang. He took the cordless receiver from its holster on the navy blue wall and answered.

"Hn," he grunted, waiting patiently for the caller to identify themselves.

"Itachi," the caller said into the phone. It was Pein; Itachi knew from his voice. "I need you to get down to the office immediately," the man demanded, his voice cold.

"Very well," Itachi responded, now calm on the interior as well as the exterior after his long shower. His current state of cleanliness made it that much easier to think. He hung up after Pein disconnected and dragged his towel over his body as he padded across his cream-carpeted floor and stood in front of the expansive floor to ceiling glass windows that separated his room from the world outside. As he dried himself, Itachi stared out at the Amegakure skyline without really seeing it, as he was busy putting all his thoughts from the night before into order.

He dressed in a simple black long-sleeved shirt and black non pleated trousers after applying his hygienic products, moving quickly and efficiently. After putting on his shoes and putting his still damp hair in a hair tie, the Uchiha trotted downstairs, grabbed an apple from the fridge and made his way to his car, shutting his front door firmly.

* * *

**Amegakure no Sato  
Rinnegan Records  
2:12 am**

The door to Pein's office closed firmly as the man slammed it shut behind Itachi. A lesser man would have flinched at the display, but Itachi only glanced dispassionately at his boss. Pein paced away from the door to stand behind his desk, fingers splaying over the shiny surface as the Akatsuki head tried to figure out what Itachi had just informed him. Something didn't fit.

"You say he wasn't aiming at her?"

"That is correct," Itachi replied in monotone to Pein's question. "He aimed at the two individuals that had been tailing her and then she and the shooter escaped in an unmarked black vehicle."

"So what did our little lady give us? Did you manage to negotiate with her?" Pein demanded his cold grey eyes demanding good news.

Itachi's own eyes darkened in annoyance as he reflected the events of the night before.

"She led me on a bit of a wild goose chase for about five hours, and when I finally caught her, she accused _us_ of killing the AHS men and killing the deal ourselves, then called us cheats." Itachi ground out, only the darkening of his obsidian eyes indicating his annoyance.

Pein's lips thinned before he stepped back and with jerky movement betraying his frustration, pulled a slim file from the top of his desk drawer and opened it.

A video still of an attractive red-head was the first thing Itachi saw when Pein opened the file. His eyes narrowed and darkened, eyebrows pulling together slightly in the middle of his face as he frowned. He leaned closer to look even as Pein got up from behind his desk, file still in hand, and walked around the hunk of mahogany towards him. An unsettling feeling churned uneasily in the pit of Itachi's stomach, like he was about to see something he didn't want to.

"Well well, Himura Tayuya-san," Pein murmured as he tilted the image towards the stiffened Uchiha. "What are you keeping from us, and why?"

"Is this what I think it is?" Itachi asked softly his tone giving away none of his turbulent inner thoughts.

"Yes," Pein almost confirmed quietly. "See, we caught this from a security tape outside of that 'coffee shop' Himura frequents these days. There, behind her, do you see that man?" Itachi studied the man in the back of the photograph with minimal interest, his mind blank with blinding rage, and a bit of grudging respect. The woman he had spoken with tonight had not been Tayuya!

Suddenly, the unexplained tattoo made sense.

"Yes, yes, I see now," he intoned to satisfy Pein. "What are your orders considering him?" he murmured softly keeping his expression stoic so as to not alarm Pein. Suddenly the Uchiha felt uneasy and was subsequently filled with the desire to leave Pein's office as soon as possible.

Pein removed the photo and held it towards Itachi, his arctic smoke colored grey eyes bright with malicious promise.

"Find them both. I want answers." his tone hardened "Use _whatever_ means necessary."

Nodding curtly, Uchiha Itachi took the photo and turned to exit the room. His boss wasn't the only one who wanted answers. Slipping the photo in his blazer pocket, his fingers slid over an entirely different piece of paper.

It seemed it was time to hunt down the imposter.

* * *

**Yes, we finally updated. Our lives are seemingly balancing out, so here's to hoping for more more frequent updates! Only a minor cliffie this time, ey? And sorry that there isn't much humor here... Anyway, do review!**


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